Schizophrenic
by Red - Eyed - Raven 93
Summary: POST GAME/MOVIE, SPOILERS ABOUND! Shepard doesn't think she's going crazy when she saw a non-existent child running around. Now she's in a world where superheroes, gods, and monsters exist... maybe she's REALLY going crazy.
1. Cornered

**Disclaimer: _Mass Effect_ characters belong to BioWare; _The Avengers_ characters belong to Marvel.**

* * *

**Chapter I:**

**Cornered**

"The paths are all here, Shepard. All you need to do is to choose one."

_The hell did I just hear?_ Shepard furrowed her eyebrows. All the choices that the space brat, who claimed to be the controller of the Reapers, gave her were bullshit. She didn't know if the kid was trying to set a trap for her or what.

She clutched her wounded side with her free arm. She could still feel that warm, viscous liquid oozing out of her sides. Her time wasn't of her own; soon enough, if she wouldn't make a choice, the Reapers would wipe out the whole Victory Fleet. It wasn't that she doubts the fleet's strength—it was just that, by the way she had seen it from the windows of the Citadel, the war was costing more lives than she expected.

But still, none of the choices appealed to her.

"The clock is ticking, Shepard,"

Shepard gritted her teeth. "I know that, bitch," she whispered. Never in her history had that she felt so… trapped—even with her time with Cerberus wasn't this bad. Like a constrained wild Krogan, her spirit roared within her. She wanted to defeat the odds; yet her strength was ebbing quickly.

She looked at her options— three options that would change the course of history forever. Of all the chances of the Crucible not firing, why now? Her free hand invoulntarily gripped the handle of her gun. She was always known for someone who defies the odds. Why couldn't she do it now?

"Everyone's dying…"

"No, they're holding fine."

"Soon enough, they'll by crushed by the Reapers."

"Then why don't you go get your lobster stuffed toys out of our system and bother us no more?"

The Catalyst looked at her. "No, we can't do that. We are only saving you from your imminent destruction."

"By destroying us, yeah right," Shepard rolled her eyes, "But still, you're willing to show me how to destroy your toys."

"Your death will save the galaxy," the Catalyst said, "It will bring understanding between the synthetics and the organics."

Shepard suddenly felt the urge of hitting the bright child with the butt of her gun, "Understanding? In what hole have you been hiding huh?" she snorted, "I just risked a life of a friend just to end a war between the Geth and the Quarians. And as far as I know, they're doing just fine by working together. I don't need to die just to get that kind of understanding."

"You know it won't last forever."

"Nothing lasts forever, brat."

"But my solution will bring eternal peace between the organics and the synth—"

Before the child Catalyst could finish his argument, Shepard's gun flailed swiftly on his head, sending him sprawling to the ground. The translucent child shook his head as he struggled to get on to his feet but before he could even recover, Shepard grabbed one of his ankles and started to drag him towards the bluish beam of light.

"FOOLISH HUMAN, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU CAN ACHIEVE BY DEFYING YOUR DESTINY?"

Shepard looked at him and grinned. "I don't know. Maybe it won't achieve anything…" her voice trailed as she continued to trudge towards the blue light, "But if you really know me, I believe you already know this: It's either MY WAY or the HIGHWAY—or at least for now, the BLUE RAY."

"YOU _WILL_ REGRET THIS, SHEPARD."

Shepard let out a small chuckle. "I've got a lot of regrets in my life; but I'm going to make sure this won't be one of them!"

As the child struggled to let go of her grasp, Shepard felt her whole life flash before her eyes. From the very moment she stepped into the deck of the Normandy SR-1 to her final hours in London. She let another chuckle, the pathway towards the main beam of the Crucible seemed so long that she was able to view her whole life slower than she expected. She took another step and then another, ignoring the accursed roars of the three-toned-voice of the child she was dragging.

"YOUR EFFORTS ARE FUTILE—THE REAPERS WILL DETERMINE YOUR DESTINY."

"Hackett said that the Crucible needs more energy to fire the Reapers' asses to hell," she said, "You seem to have a lot of energy—and if you're really their creator, I guess that if you'll die, they'll go to hell with you!"

Shepard stopped at the edge of the platform, dropped her gun, grabbed the Catalyst's leg with her two hands, and breathed in deeply. _Alright Shep, this is it_. She closed her eyes and exhaled. Collecting all the strength remained in her; she flung the Catalyst towards the bluish beam. She heard the boy's blood-curdling roar in the mid air as the beams consumed him to nothingness. Her strength had finally left her; and she was unable to recover herself from the throw. As she tipped down to the blue beam, she could hear the whole galaxy rejoicing—they had won against the Reapers.

Shepard smiled and closed her eyes, it was finally over.

* * *

"Joker, can you read Shepard's signal?" Garrus asked while holding off a horde of husks.

"No—shit!" the helmsman replied at the other end of the line, "I'm kinda worried after the Harbinger hit her team. But I can't run a full search since these damn Reaper ships are chasing me to hell! "

Garrus furrowed his eyebrows. "Bothers me too," he said taking cover from a barrage of shots, "She just charged to the conduit without any back-up. What the hell is she thinking?"

"Tali got injured," Joker replied, "She called me to pick up Vega and Tali and leave. Damn it! I knew I should've given her some ground cover!"

The turian sighed. "You know how stubborn she is; and you can't do anything about it."

There was a one minute silence on the other end before the turian heard anything. "Hey Garrus, I think you should call the others to the extraction point."

"What? Are you crazy?"

"No shit, I'm not!" Joker replied, "I think I saw the Commander on the Crucible!"

"Did you drink the night before the fight?"

"It's not a joke Garrus! She's in there, walking as if she was fighting against something."

"Are you sure about that? What the heck is she doing in there anyway?"

"I don't know, but we have to help her!"

"But how—"

"I'm sending you the coordinates for extraction; we got to get to her fast!"

"Joker wai—" but the connection went off. Garrus sighed and reloaded his assault rifle. He fired a few more rounds to the endless waves of monstrous creatures running towards him. He retreated to an abandoned building, pulled out a grenade, threw it to the midst of the enemy ground forces, and ducked. While the blast removed most of the persistent husks, Garrus set up his communicator to conact his squadmates.

"Everybody, this is Garrus," the turian called while avoiding detection from the enemies, "Joker said that Commander Shepard was found inside the Crucible!"

"Are you sure about that? " Kaidan first asked.

"I don't know, but Joker's pretty sure about it."

"Well, whatever it is, we can't just leave Lola in there, right?"

Garrus cringed at the sound of the strange nickname. "I know. I'm sending you the coordinates to extraction," Garrus said as he tapped some buttons on his omni-tool, "Better wrap up you're business in there quick—Joker's pretty hyped up. Garrus out."

.

.

.

.

"Any news about Shepard?" Tali asked the helmsman as they team boarded on the Normandy.

"She's still in there," Joker replied, excited, "but I don't think she's holding up much longer."

"Jeff, relax," EDI said, "Shepard is a strong woman. She can handle this."

"I know EDI. But there's no way in hell I'm going to leave her there!"

"Alliance Army to Normandy," Admiral Hackett's voice rang on the communicator, "The Crucible is firing up. We advise you to get away from here as far as you can."

Joker's hands ran cold. "B-but the Commander's still there somewhere!"

"In the Crucible?"

"Yeah."

"But why and how—?"

"I don't think it matters now, admiral," Joker replied, "If the Crucible will be destroyed after a full single shot, she's gonna die in there."

The other end went silent for a while. "W-we can't do much about it. The Crucible is about to wipe out the Reapers. If you don't get away from the beam, you'll be wiped out—"

"But the Commander may die in there!"

"She knew the risks beforehand," the Admiral replied, "This is an order Flight Lieutenant Moreau: get you and the rest of the team away from here before the explosion occurs. Hackett out."

Joker couldn't believe what he just heard. Nobody really knew the effect of the Crucible. They were just taking precautions. But how could they do this to the woman who united the whole galaxy against the Reaper threat? He spun his chair and found that the rest of the squad were right just behind him with a worried look on their faces.

The helmsan pulled his hat down and went back to the ship's controls. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm still going to save her," Joker whispered while tapping some keys on the omni-keyboard, "If you don't agree with me, you better hitch hike with someone else."

"Joker…" Liara's voice trailed,

"The hell, I dunno what you feel about her, but this is what I know: When the first Normandy went down, she didn't hesitate to get left behind just to save me," Joker said, "To me, that's enough motivation for me to dive to that impending shitstorm just to save her. The heck, actually, that's my job—pulling her boots out of the fire!"

Everyone remained silent as Joker continued his speech. "You may not realize this; but I think we owe so much to the Commander—more than our lives. I may have worked my ass of in flight school just to get the highest honors but without the commander in my life, I'll probably just another simple pilot flying around the routine missions. It is through her that I really proved to myself and to the whole galaxy that I'm the best helmsman that the Alliance Fleet can ever have. Commander Shepard didn't just save our lives—she brought us out of our boring lives and showed us what we really can be.

"Liara, if she hadn't met Shepard, may be still a simple asari researcher up to now and might have never been the Shadow Broker. Wrex is probably still a Krogan mercenary and not the proud head of the Urdnot clan if he and the commander never met. Garrus may still be an emo C-Sec officer not the courageous Turian vigilante who can beat people with a pole stuck in his ass that we know today. Tali may still be a little Quarian engineer in her pilgrimage and not the strong Admiral of the Quarian fleet here. James may not be encouraged to join the N-forces if weren't for Shepard's influence. And you, Kaidan, won't even prove yourself worthy of becoming a Spectre if Shepard isn't there. And Javik would probably still in his stasis pod doing nothing if Shepard hadn't found him!"

"I'm still here, Jeff," the unshackled AI reminded him.

Joker grinned. "Yeah. EDI wouldn't probably understand what it really means to be human if weren't for Shepard."

The squad looked at each other and nodded. Joker quietly hoped that they understood his impromptu speech.

"Commander Shepard brought out the best in us," Joker continued, "She always puts her life on the line just to fix our issues. I guess this is the right time to return the favor."

Silence filled the bridge for a whole minute before Tali finally broke it. "Actually Joker, we're all up to saving Shepard."

"Yeah," chuckled Garrus, "and we just wasted precious time by listening to your 'Heroic Helmsman' speech."

"Get this bird flying, flight lieutenant," Kaidan added, "The Crucible's 'bout to fire up."

Joker frowned. "Since when did you get the right to order me around?"

"I'm a Spectre, remember?"

"Yeah, right."

* * *

"What's happening?"

Shepard felt herself being pulled into the Crucible's energy. As far as she knew, gravity was just the same as it was in Earth; yet why did things go slow for her? The accursed sound of the Catalyst being torn apart by the blast slowly reached her ears. Was she about to get dissolved to?

_Normandy to Shepard: Hang in there, the whole squad is coming to get you._

"Was that Joker's voice?" Shepard whispered. She couldn't believe her ears. How come the helmsman tracked her down to the Crucible? And why was everyone going to her location? Shepard bit her lip. Those idiots would just go down to hell with her if she wouldn't warn them.

She slowly pressed her communicator and cleared her throat.

"Shepard to Normandy: this is an order: clear the area around the Crucible's firing range—we don't really know what it does but I'm pretty sure it'll be quite ugly."

A loud static came in for a reply.

"Damn it Joker, I'm serious."

Another static ensued. The commander cursed under her breath and disconnected the line. She just hoped that they had gotten her message.

Her whole body had grown numb—the same feeling she had when the first Normandy exploded. She had let gravity drift to the very core of the blast. Had this thing had no end?

Shepard forced her eyes open. Everything around her seemed to be blurry and dissolving like oil rising to the water's surface. She turned her head around and saw that the whole Crucible was being devoured by darkness. The Catalyst's scream, the Reapers' static noises, the relentless gunfire, and the Normandy's call: all of those still lingered in her ears. Was it a dream—or a vision of her impending death?

_Commander? Shepard? Are you still there? These damn Reapers are just stalling us; but don't worry, we're almost there to pull you out._

"No, don't come," Shepard whispered.

_Shepard, we're at the Crucible's main gun and it's glowing white and—oh shit!_

Shepard almost popped her eyeballs out. "Joker? Damn it, get ou—!"

Before she could completely say the sentence, a beam of white light began to devour her. Shepard muttered another curse as she tried to claw her way out of the impending ocean of white in front of her. Her communicator sent the crew's screams of anguish to her ear. She could hear Joker's excited but panicked commands to the other crewmembers. _No, no,_ she opened her lips but no sound came out from her mouth. She could easily handle her death, but what about the death of all those she cared for? Shepard frantically waved her hands; but it was all in vain.

Soon enough, the white beam covered her sight completely. Shepard threw one last attempt to break free but all her strength had left her. She felt limbs being torn away and her skin being burned. Never in her war days had she experienced such pain. Her whole body ached until she finally yielded to her destiny.

_Why does it have to end like this?_

* * *

. . .

* * *

With all the things that happened to him, Loki wished he had already died during his conquest in Midgard.

He had lost everything: his status, staff, power—even his own voice. All he had was shame after his failed attempt to conquer the land of the mortals.

After being dragged back to Asgard by his foolish 'brother', Thor, Loki had been sentenced to be bound, muzzled, and locked away in the most distant part of Asgard where he could do no harm to anybody while Thor and the Warriors Three could keep an eye on him. The trickster god detested his condition. No kind of humiliation was worse than he was already experiencing.

Now his limbs were stretched out to the four corners of the cell he was confined in. He could feel his joints groaning due to prolonged stretching. With his mouth gagged, Loki was unable to do anything to ease his present condition. He couldn't convince his guards to do anything for him—much less get their attention.

"Sif, you are making a huge mistake!"

Loki perked up his ears. Series of quick footsteps followed by agitated voices neared to his containment. The loud, boisterous voice surely came from his barbaric brother. Why would Thor and Sif pay him an unexpected visit?

"The All Father has already decreed this, Thor," Sif said, "He wants this mortal to be imprisoned here."

"This is not right! The mortal is just confused—"

"Confused?" Sif interrupted, "She just killed almost a hundred Asgardians in a single fight! Not to mention the injuries she has caused."

Loki raised an eyebrow. He was well aware of the foolhardiness of mortals; but for someone to assault the Asgardians—and actually deal a heavy damage? There were only two theories: either the mortals were getting strong, or the Asgardians were getting weak. And Loki presumed that the second theory was more plausible.

"I…But such punishment is not fit for a mortal like her."

"Mortal? She seems like a monster to me— look at her glowing eyes and scars!"

Loki raised another eyebrow. Perhaps the first theory could also be plausible.

"Midgard technology must be responisble for that change, Sif," Thor explained, "I have a friend there—by the name of Tony Stark—he may explain this manner of sorcery."

The sound of footsteps stopped. Loki could see their shadows flicker by the small hole they could actually call as a "window". He leaned forward as far as he could be, not wanting to miss any word.

"I do not know, Thor," Sif said,"Odin himself ordered her incarceration—perhaps you may still reason with him."

Thor sighed. "I may or I may not," he said, "But it is still wrong to put her here along with these….monsters."

As the two Asgardians walked away from his cell, Loki's rage boiled within him. So, his oafish brother had already labeled him as a monster. Soon enough, he would show him who—

"GET YOUR DAMN HANDS OFF ME, YOU WALKING TIN MEN! THAT'S JUST WHAT YOU GET AFTER PLACING YOUR POINTY STICKS ON MY FACE! AND IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE GONNA GET SOMETHING **WORSE**!"

Loki's concentration broke. The voice was way unfamiliar for him to recognize. Was it the mortal that Thor and Sif were talking about? Three shadows passed along his cell: two stiff ones and one that was moving vehemently. Loki laughed to himself. What manner of a mortal so brave yet so stupid—just like his brother Thor. But he was impressed at the mortal maiden's valiant resolve. She was not the one who would accept imprisonment as destiny. Soon enough, she would find a way to break free in this prison. All he had to do was to go with the flow.

_But how?_

* * *

_A/N: Hi there, it's me...again. This is a story I'm writing while I'm suffering a writer's block on other stories. I've just watched The Avengers and all I can say is... THE AVENGERS ARE COOL AND **LOKI IS FREAKING HOT** (fangirl squee)! So yeah, this is a Mass EffectXThe Avengers cross over. _

_Still deciding if this will lead to a full blown FemShepXLoki story or not. Ratings are also being decided (may change to M later on)_

_First time to do a cross over and I hope I'm doing it right... Let me know what you think.. :)_


	2. Prisonbreak Level: Infiltrator

**Chapter II:**

**Prisonbreak Level: Infiltrator**

Shepard could assure to herself that what was happening to her was not a result of the "last shore leave night" hangover.

Bound in chains, suspended in the air, guns confiscated, and locked up into a place even the Asari twilight dancers wouldn't dare come, Shepard still considered herself lucky for not being dead on the spot. Still, being locked up wasn't still on the bright side. If those idiots had not provoked her using their shiny, pointed sticks, perhaps no one would even get injured.

Their attacks still stung on her whole body. She never thought that those things were REAL blades. Her left fist, when she had once attempted to punch one of them, still felt out of joint. Truth be told, the people she had fought were not human. Some of those people, especially with the ones in regal armor, had some sort of power beyond her comprehension. Had she not discovered that powerful, blue cube, she would be dead by now.

* * *

Shields down, low supply of medi-gel, thermal clips, and sticky grenades, and a broken arm, Shepard had already been doubting if she could get out of that fantasy land setting alive. She had almost consumed all her bullets in a single target, yet it rendered ineffective to them. Damn, if she had been a biotic, things would be much easier. Her tactical cloaking had barely kept her alive. She didn't know how, but it seemed that they could see her through the cloaking device—especially that black-haired amazon who they called Sif.

"Find that mortal and bring her to custody!" she heard the female warrior say.

"Come on, Shep," Shepard scolded herself as she sprinted away from the guards, "you're better than this!"

Her spirit roared within her, accusing her of cowardice. She had never ran away from a fight— kept distance, yes—but never the 'r' or 's' word. She bit her lip and opened her omni-tool: she only had a few more seconds before her cloaking shut down. Her heart hammered in her chest. Survival instincts slowly consumed her mind. Tact and diplomacy had already been long gone—only bloodshed remained.

Just as she expected, her tactical cloak had already vanished. It would be a matter of minutes before they would discover her location. She scanned her surroundings and saw a huge, ornate, double-door north-west of her location. Using her last medi-gel, Shepard hoped that she could think another strategy to outsmart her enemies.

She walked to the huge door, deliberately leaving traces of bloodstains on her way, and tried to pull it open. With all her luck, she couldn't even bulge it open.

"A mortal in Asgard?" a voice thundered around the corner, "But how can this be?"

Shepard froze in her tracks. She opened her omni-tool, tapped a few buttons, and luckily, activated her tactical cloak. Sighing in relief, she dashed to the nearest pillar and peeked a few inches out of her hiding place.

"We do not know, Thor Odinson," a voice replied, "But her appearance seems to be like of your mortal acquaintances in Midgard."

"Like who?"

"We are not certain; but she is well armed."

Two figures finally appeared in her line of sight: one was a common soldier but the other one was probably someone with great importance. His tall and muscular stature gave her the impression of arrogance in the man. His shoulder-length blonde hair and crimson red cape danced accordingly to his stiff strides. While he was waliking, Shepard spied a hammer-like metal, with a quite short handle, nestled on the belt of his silvery armor. The two figures stopped in front of the door and the one called Thor crossed his arms.

"A well-armed mortal being able to infiltrate the defenses of Asgard—can she be an operative of Nick Fury?" Thor said, "No. They had already vowed that they will bother the Tesseract no more."

"But who can this mortal be?"

"I know not. But whoever she is, we must make sure she will not get near the cube," Thor declared and pushed the huge doors open.

"Tesseract? Cube? What the hell are those guys saying?" Shepard thought as she followed the two people inside.

The room was spacious enough for her to use her sniper rifle with ease. Quickly, Shepard positioned herself behind one of the pillars, loaded her rifle, and used the scope to scan the area. The furniture in the area was scarce—except for a medium-sized cube far north from her.

"Has anyone attempted to get in here?" Thor asked.

"No one, Thunderer."

Thor nodded his head. "See to it that you guard the Tesseract well," he said, "The cube is far too dangerous for a mortal to handle."

Shepard tried to zoom-in her scope. "Is that eezo?" she mused. Then a plan suddenly came to her. Whatever the cube might be, it seemed to have a huge power contained in it—a single disruption would cause mayhem. Grinning, she reached for the knob in her rifle and turned it a few times. The inside of the sniper rifle emitted a faint blue light. With all her luck, she believed she could still win the battle.

"Thor, have you seen the mortal?" Sif called out.

"Shit!" Shepard spat and crouched behind the pillars. Behind that Sif woman was an army of almost a hundred guards blocking her only escape. She knew now that shooting the cube with disruptor ammo would do the trick.

"Why no, not yet, Sif," Thor replied, "Has the mortal escaped your sights?"

Shepard aimed her rifle at the cube. Her broken left hand made her aiming more difficult than ever. Clutching the barrel, Shepard breathed in, held her breath, and looked at the scope. Despite the noise that the two armored beings made, she could only hear her heart hammering against the walls of her chest. Beads of perspiration ran from her forehead down to her chin. Her sight was unstable; but she had to take the risk. She closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger.

* * *

The sound of her rifle firing was drowned by the noise in front of her. She tried to look up but the pain in her neck prevented her. Looking at the shadows, she could see a single figure in front of her. She tried lifting her head up slowly, but her neck ached like there was no tomorrow. Groaning, she contented herself in looking up as far as she could.

"Hail, mortal."

Shepard blinked. The voice seemed familiar. "Let me guess: you're going to present my charges, say the sentence, and send in for the executioner."

A blonde-haired man crouched to look at her hung down head. It was the man they called Thor. "I have been trying to contemplate your actions, attempting to reason with my father, Odin."

"Really? Thanks for the effort," she said with a straight face.

"It is no jest, mortal," Thor said, "I know not what kind of sorcery you have; but what you did at the cube—"

"I shot it."

"If were not for the Mjolnir's power, we have all died," Thor continued, with his blue eyes staring directly at her, "You have fortunate that the power you released was not more powerful than mine—and yet…" his voice trailed and eyes lowered.

Shepard blinked. "And yet what?"

Thor looked up at her with fury behind his blue eyes. "My father will not consider letting you go," he said sternly, "And with what you have done earlier, everyone will consider you as an accomplice of my brother, Loki."

Shepard tried to hold her laugh. "Ok, Mr. Thor, let me get this straight: I. DON'T. EVEN. KNOW. WHAT'S. GOING. ON!" she said while making emphasis on every word, "I am an accomplice of no one—if you know what I mean. I have no idea how I got here, or how I got _all_ my equipment back while I remember only having a heavy pistol. I woke up and next thing I know, your guards are prodding my face with their sticks—which I really hate. So, if you'll just let me talk with your king—or whatever your leader is called, I can prove that I don't understand even a single shit in here."

Thor's expression saddened. "That is the main reason why they will _not_ consider letting you go," he whispered, "Believe me mortal, I do think that you speak the truth. I too know what it feels to wake up in an unknown world and to be confused on what is going on around me."

"Ok… that's good, I guess. But why won't _they _let me go?"

"It is not usual for a mortal to get into Asgard," Thor explained, "The travel from Midgard to Asgard needs a more powerful magic, now that the Bifrost is destroyed. The only Asgardian I am aware of in doing such, aside from my father Odin, is my brother Loki."

Shepard couldn't find the words to say. Asgard? Midgard? Bifrost? Odin? Thor? Loki? She had once seen those names on very old stories she found on the extranet. _Am I really going crazy?_, she thought. "W-wait," she cleared her throat, "I don't remember drinking too much Ryncol will get me these dreams."

Loud peals of laughter came from the Asgardian. "I am now being more convinced that you are no accomplice of my brother," he said, "You are just like me when I was banished to Midgard."

Shepard rolled her eyes. "To the matter at hand," she said tartly, "So you think they won't release me because of my supposed 'conncetion' with your brother?"

"Assaulting Asgardians, destroying structures with your explosives, and resisting the gurards may still be forgiven," Thor said, "But after you have released a short surge of power out of the cube, killing almost a hundred of my people, I am afraid I cannot do anything for you."

Shepard's heart sank. "So, you can't help me?"

"I—"

The commander gritted her teeth. "So why are we still talking here? Where's the chopping board?"

"I am still pleading to my father, Odin," Thor said, "Do not lose hope."

"Thor Odinson," someone said,"Your father has summoned you."

Thor looked at her in the eye, as if to seal a promise, stood straight and went for the exit. "Before I leave mortal, may I ask for your name?"

Shepard looked up as high as she could. And why would he ask for her name? "Jane Shepard," she said.

"Ah Jane," Thor said in a quite reminiscent tone, "I have a good friend of mine back in Midgard—her name is Jane Foster."

"We have the same name… yeah sure, I get it."

"Farewell, Lady Jane Shepard: Wish that I can still plead with my father for your life."

"Yeah, sure, good luck." Shepard said in a deadpan manner as the doors closed.

"_He will fail."_

"What the—" Shepard jerked her head up, ignoring the pain in her neck and back, upon hearing the familiar voice, "how the hell did you even survive?"

Shepard's eyes widened as she witnessed a blue light in front of her. It slowly spun around to the ground until it formed to be a little humanoid figure. The cell was damp and cold yet she was soaking in her own sweat. Her heart beat thrice as fast and her blood boiled in her veins. Her hands involuntarily gripped the chains that held her as the figure walked towards her.

"Death is your only destiny, Shepard," the Catalyst said.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Shepard said, "I saw you get dissolved in the Crucible's beam!"

"I never die—not until there are organics who wish to gain power more than they can handle."

"That's a damn lie."

"I cannot lie. It is my only purpose—to keep everything in balance. I am only keeping your kind from destroying yourselves," the Catalyst stopped in front of her, "But your actions have made me think of that fact. I thought that through your decisions, the cycle will change—yet I was worng."

Shepard frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Your foolhardiness has cost people's lives. You wish to stop the inevitable—in your own terms. What you haven't realized is, the more you struggle, the greater damage you are causing not to your own life, but to other people's lives also."

"I'm just making sure that you and your kind will not bother us again."

"The Reapers will be eliminated through your sacrifice," the Catalyst said.

"Eliminated?" Shepard incredulously said, "By what: controlling them—just like what the Illusive Man is trying to do, combining the flesh and steel, like what Saren wanted to do, or blowing us back to the Stone Age by destroying all synthetics?"

"No cost is too great for someone who puts the mission before her allies."

The Catalyst's words punched Shepard in the face—hard. "Damn you Catalyst! It's not about me—it's about you and your bothersome pets!"

"You thought that your actions will end the cycle; but what you did will cause more sorrow."

"Not if I can help it," Shepard gritted her teeth, "I swear Catalyst, and once I get out of here I'll—"

"Silence mortal—we have enough of your noise!"

Shepard looked up at the window and saw on of the guards peeking through the window. "Well I'll shut up if you'll drag this kid away from me!"

"You are insane mortal, there is no one inside but you."

"But—" Shepard looked down but the kid was gone, "Yeah sure, I'll shut up."

"'Tis better…" the guard mumbled under his breath.

_Damn, I'm seeing things again._ She shook her head vigorously, ignoring the sharp pain stinging on her neck. Ever since the arrival of the Reapers, she had been seeing things that other people couldn't see. She expected that her hallucinations would end after she had defeated the Reapers. But why was it recurring? Had she failed in the Crucible? But if the Catalyst was really alive, then she had to break out and find him!

Shepard inhaled deeply and mustered all the strength she could get. She couldn't die yet—and she wouldn't throw herself at the mercy of Thor or Odin. She had a mission; and as far as her military training was concerned—she had to finish it, no matter what.

The commander scanned around for her options. No weapons except for her omniblade, which she could not possibly activate in her present condition. The chains that bound her wrists and ankles tightly coiled themselves against the mesh of her battered armor. She had to do something more cunning in order to get away from those chains. She looked at her omni-tool again. It was bound along with her wrist. She slowly turned her left wrist left and right. No response.

"Come on, damn it!" Shepard cursed as she continued to twist and turn her wrist to no avail.

She shook her head and sighed. She looked around again and spied a few strange-looking insects crawling on her chains. As she watched those tiny creatures tumbled around, her memories jogged to an old movie that she and Joker had watched over the extranet. She glanced at the guards and back at the insects. _I'm just lucky Joker's not in here, or else he'll never let me hear the end of it._ Shepard inhaled all the air she could get. "GUARDS! GUARDS! I NEED YOUR HELP. THESE VERMIN ARE GOING TO EAT ME ALIVE!"

Within an instant, the door swung open and two oddly-dressed men rushed inside the cell. "What is this nuisance, mortal?" one of the guards asked irritably.

"Are you blind? What the hell are these insects doing in the chain?" Shepard acted as panicked as she could, "Ack, they're already crawling in my skin! They're eating my veins out—oh god—these wounds they caused me won't heal! Take it off me! TAKE IT AWAY!"

"This is preposterous," one of the guards said, "these insects are harmless."

"HARMLESS? YOU CALL THIS HARMLESS? I'M A DAMN MORTAL FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!"

"The moral is probably correct, mortals are fallible beings," the other guard noted, "And if something unfortunate happens to the mortal—prince Thor will unleash his wrath upon us; for he said to us, 'Guard the mortal well.'."

The first guard growled. "Unchain her. We cannot remove these leeches while she was there. Worry not, she has already been weakened," he said and looked at Shepard irritably, "Better not do any of your tricks, mortal."

"I KNOW RIGHT, JUST GET ME AWAY FROM THESE THINGS!"

Soon enough, the chains left her aching wrists and ankles. Flexing her over-stressed joints, Shepard moved slowly behind the guards while the two cleared the area. She carefully studied the two metal-clad guards. It was not the type she would actually go against—not in her present condition. Change the plan, her inner survival instinct coaxed her.

Not leaving her gaze on the two guards, she forced her left arm to move and activated her omni-tool. "Thanks for listnening to me guys; those things almost killed me!" she said in a pathetic tone of helplessness.

"You are just fortunate, mortal," the grumpy guard answered as he prodded the insectoid creatures with his spear, "We shall not do it were it not for—"

Before he could finish the sentence, he heard a small click behind them. He spun around, not wanting to be caught off-guard. The prisoner was nowhere to be found. Before he could say another word, the only door swung close and sealed itself shut.

* * *

. . .

* * *

"_I could have done it, Father! I could have done it! For you! For all of us!"_

"_No, Loki."_

The scene was still seared on Loki's memory, burning his soul, his heart, his whole being. Everything he had dreamed and worked for—all for nothing. Every effort he had made to gain his father's favor could be counted as dung. The one he considered as 'father' had already denied him. All his plans had failed. His whole supposed world was all shattered. And he was there—locked up, neglected, forsaken, and forgotten.

Loki hung his head, letting the chains carry all the dead weight. He felt all the power in him seep out to the air. If he hadn't already known, Odin had probably used some enchantment that would weaken him, preventing him to use any of his skill. _Curse him!_ he spat. He had finally realized that in the All Father's eyes, he was just a mere relic, a weapon, that would be used in due time against the Jotun. Now that he had discovered the wretched truth and rebelled against it, he was locked up in a distant part of Asgard.

"What the heck is this place?" he heard a feminine voice say, "This maze is making me sick!"

He looked up and peeped out of the small window. On the small hole, he could spy locks of red hair. He kept his gaze at the window, trying to figure out who spoke. The head finally turned and he was greeted by a pair of glowing, red eyes. Disgusting, glowing red scars etched her cracked, pale face. As he held his head up high while studying the newcomer, Loki suddenly remembered Sif's words. Was she the foolish mortal?

The mortal looked around and looked towards him. "This door's pretty huge; I hope this is the way out."

His heartbeat almost stopped when he heard a series of tiny, clicking noises at his door. Hushed, agitated mutterings followed every after a tiny, sharp click. What was she doing? He wondered. Soon enough the door swung open, revealing a lithe figure clad in a strange, pitifully battered armor.

"Ah yes, finally I'm fre—oh wait," she frowned as soon as she saw him. She turned her back on him and stopped. He continued to stare at her as she slowly looked at him, then to the wide corridor in front of them, then back at him. She furrowed her eyebrows, as if to study him, much to his irritation. He narrowed his eyes, trying to give her the impression that he didn't like what she was doing; but she merely grinned and jogged towards him.

"Well, it doesn't hurt if I piss them off by doing this," she laughed, "Besides, I need a guide—and a meatshield."

Loki's rage boiled within him. A meatshield, of all the things she could describe him—why that degrading word? He clenched his fists and made a serious eye contact on her strange glowing eyes. She looked at him as if he was just a mere item worthy of her curiosity. She smirked again and let her fingers trail on the chains which held him.

"I hope my omniblade does the trick," she said and a yellowish glow started to form on her left arm. It looked like a small blade of light hinged on her arm. With quick series of swipes, she sawed off one of the links, then another and another, until everything that held him off was removed. He felt in control of himself again as he set his foot to the ground. But his vision started to get blurry and he started to tumble.

_No!_ he cried to himself, _I will not let myself fall in front of a mortal!_

But even before he lost his balance, a pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and braced him against something hard.

"Whoa there, can you even stand up? And damn, you're so cold—literally!"

He blinked and turned his head only to meet the awkward look on the mortal's face, that glowing red eyes with abnormal cirular patterns on the iris, and that warm, moisty air coming out from her. He wanted to push her away, to make her feel unwanted; but he had no strength to do so. Instead, he merely nodded his head and the mortal helped him stand.

"Sooner or later, they're gonna notice that my guards are missing," she said, "We aren't going to wait for that, are we?"

He shook his head.

She smiled. "First things first—where's the armory?"

Loki just stared at her.

"I'm pretty sure they didn't just throw my weapons away."

Loki smiled behind his muzzle and pointed outside.

"Well then, let's go."

Everything was going according to plan. Little did the mortal know that she was the one who would orchastrate his escape? He had led her into the twists and turns of Asgard; and, much to his surprise, they slipped past the guards to the armory quite easily. He noticed that she had frequently used that yellow light stuck on her left arm; and it had usually allowed her to be invisible for short periods of time.

Her weapons—as expected from Midgard—were pathetic. She couldn't just expect to defeat Asgardians with those, could she?

"Ok, I'm all set," the mortal said while tinkering with her weapons, "All I need is a way back to reality."

Reality? What did she think of Asgard—a land of dreams? What a fool….

"Ok Mr. Muzzles, where's the way out?"

_MR. MUZZLES?_ Loki's eyebrows instantly met.

The mortal rolled her eyes. "What a touchy guy. Okay what I wanted to say is—"

"HOW COME THE MORTAL HAS ESCAPED?" a voice thundered outside the armory. In an instant, Loki knew where it came from. It was from his brother, Thor.

A panicked look was instant on the mortal's face. "Damn it, muzzles," she grabbed his wrist and dragged him, "I guess we have to run!"

* * *

. . .

* * *

_Shit, shit, shit, shit….OH SHIT!_

The four-letter word lingered on her mind as she and the man in black and green armor ran blindly along the corridors. Her limbs were still aching and her heart was about to burst out of exhaustion; but she had to run for her life—despite of her body's complaints. When would this nightmare end?

Following her instincts, she turned around the corner, past a huge gate, ending up in some sort of an outer space setting.

Shepard turned to her new 'friend'. "Is this the right way?" she asked.

The man looked at her hesitantly.

She groaned. "I guess we'll just have to find it ourselves."

She held the man's cold wrist and walked forward. The path seemed to be made of some crystal glass that emitted colorful rays of light. Her knees were about to break down but she forced herself to keep walking. She would probably find a shuttle, a wormhole, a portal, or something to get back to the battle. Her mission wasn't finished yet—the one behind the Reapers still lived.

"LOKI!" Thor's voice boomed behind them.

Startled, she turned around and saw Thor and the rest of the Asgardian army on their trail.

Shepard tugged the man's arm. "Okay Muzzles, where's the shuttle here?" she said while trying to keep herself calm. "Forget the shuttle, better run!" The man nodded in agreement and they dashed through the crystal bridge.

The path was longer than she expected. "Where does this thing end?" she called out to the man. Before she knew it, she skidded to the edge of nothingness. After breathing out a short curse word, she looked down and saw the void of the galaxy, waiting to swallow her alive, "Okay, so there's no shuttle…" she whispered. Shepard looked behind her and saw Thor armed with his hammer. _Damn._

"LOKI! How did you escape the—Jane?" Thor said when he finally reached them.

"Sorry big guy," Shepard said, "I can't die yet."

Thor stood there with his mouth agape. "I—I—I never believed that you're with Loki," he stammered.

Shepard glanced at the black-haired man. "He's just a guide and a meatshield, don't worry—nothing personal."

"Did not I just tell you to wait for me?"

Shepard's hand balled into fists. "I can't stand there and wait while the Catalyst is taking his own sweet time in destroying galaxies!"

"The Catalyst?"

The commander shook her head. "Sorry Thor, no time to explain," she said while walking backwards, "I need to get back. I still have a score to settle."

"Lady Jane, I can help—"

Before Thor could finish the sentence, Shepard saw a black, leather drape fell on her face. The next thing she knew, she was falling down to the place no-one-knows-where. The last sound she heard was the crazed laugh of the man named Loki.

* * *

_Am I dead?_

Shepard felt a cool finger caress her face. Judging by the scent, it seemed as she was on a seaside. What happened after the fall? She forced her eyes open. Her heart skipped a beat upon seeing the one who touched her face, it was someone familiar—someone she missed so much; but someone she didn't want to see, yet.

"How are you feeling, Siha?"

"T-Thane?"

* * *

_**A/N:** Oh my, this chapter got longer than I intended it to be. Really sorry! But in any case, I won't be able to write for a few days, so here's something to keep you occupied. Hehehe..._

_So why did I choose the Infiltrator class instead of a good ol' Solider class? Well, it's because I'm not too familiar with the playstyles of other classes (besides, Infiltrator's my fav, hehehe). Expect an Ironman-Shepard showdown (uhm, not next chapter)! More on FemShep's background next chapter._

_About the pairings... I'm still on the FemShepXLoki boat, though I'm considering to have a little FemShepXSteve on the sidelines..._

_Special thanks to Amir-015, and HK-Revan for pointing out some loopholes on the first chapter. The comment is very much appreciated! (hugs)_

_For the people who reviewed and liked what they read: JamesXenoS, TheNightStoryteller, DarkOne, TarynWulf, Straight Edghe, bandgsecurtiyaw, HK-Revan, God of fate, bob, and samwaffleman... and the people who Alerted and Faved...THANK YOU VERY MUCH! (throws out Internet cookies)_

_So what is it now? Exciting? Boring? Love it? Hate it? Loopholes? Please let me know... And the Old Machines will reward you for your efforts. (I know it's kinda random...)_


	3. Worm in the Apple

**Chapter III:**

**Worm in the Apple**

"T-Thane?"

"Is there something wrong, Siha?" the big rounded black eyes of the drell loomed over her.

The very sight of the drell was enough to drain all the life in her. It was true that she wanted him back so bad; but not this instant. She tried to hide her disappointment with a mask of curiosity. "Why am I here?" she finally asked, "This is…the other side of the sea right?"

The drell nodded sadly. "Yes Jane, this is the other side," he replied crypitcally, "Yet you don't sound pleased to see me."

Shepard widened her eyes and sat up. "I-It's not like that! Thane, I swear I miss you so bad but— there's still war out there. My fight against the Reapers isn't over!"

Thane stood up at set his lonely eyes towards the red-orange horizon. "You've already done your best, Siha. There's nothing else you can do."

The drell's words struck Shepard's heart like an omniblade. "It's not like you! _You_ know why I'm fighting. _You_ know how I wanted to destroy those lobster-squid robots. _You _know—"

"I _know_ those and I _understood_ how you feel about it, Siha," Thane interrupted, "I was being weakened by my disease; yet I chose to follow you in your quest. I value what you value, Siha—more than you ever know. But what you haven't realized is—"

"That what: that this is the end of the line?" her tone became more agitated as she struggled on to her feet, "I sacrificed thousands of lives just to end this threat once and for all. I sacrificed my relations with other people just to spend more time finding a way how to put them down permanently."

Thane silently stared at the horizon as Shepard continued. "I didn't do everything of this just to gain nothing. I swore, by the time I got hit by the Prothean Beacon, that I will do everything to stop this threat. Every move, every breath, every thermal clip I waste—all of those I consider to be a stepping stone to victory."

Thane sighed and turned towards her. The afternoon sunlight illuminated his shiny green skin, making him look like a celestial being. "Is there anything stronger than death itself?" the drell whispered, "You are a strong woman, Siha. But can your will surpass even life and death itself?"

"I can't die now. I'm not yet DEAD!"

Thane waltzed slowly towards her, cupping her cheek with his hand. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Siha? You have done far more than this ungrateful world deserves," his melancholic voice almost rent her heart into two.

Shepard closed her eyes, trying to feel the cool touch of her lover's hand. "Do you really know me, Thane, or it isn't you I'm seeing?" She asked while removing his hand from her face. "I'm not just going to drop dead. If I have to go to hell and back again just to finish them off, I will."

"Stay here with me, Siha…"

"No. I'm sorry Thane. I can't."

The drell snatched her left arm, gripping it with his deadly, assassin-like movement. His pearly black eyes loomed over her like an obsessed being clutching the object of his fancy. The commander tried to wiggle out but his claw-like grip held her arm firmly. "Haven't you got enough whispering in your head, Siha? Haven't you suffered enough?" Thane growled, his voice having two or more distinct deep tones, "You've already lost this battle Shepard—why can't you just give up?"

"No! I won't die that easily!" Shepard growled. As she continued to focus on his face, an ocean of white light enveloped her vision, veiling the sky, sea, and even Thane. The white light continued to cover her vision until it almost blinded her. She shut her eyes tight and turned her head away; but the white light lingered in her sight.

* * *

. . .

* * *

_Why did I do it?_

Loki fixed his gaze on the unconscious red-head beside him. It was just luck that he recovered much power enough to teleport both of them safely to Midgard. But why push her with him? He was just planning for _his_ escape, not _theirs_. He could have just jumped off the Bifrost while she and his brother Thor were arguing. It was far easier to escape unnoticed if had just gone off alone.

"Nnnnnhhh…." The red haired woman groaned. Loki could easily detect the anguish in her face. Crismon light glowed beneath the large cracks in her cheeks. Was she even a mortal? He shrugged his shoulders. Mortals could do bizzare things to themselves—like his brother's newfound friends. Unconsciously, Loki traced the cracks with his finger. Her skin felt like the cold, parched lands of Jotunheim. Funny, never did he ever imagine that he would be so curious to a single mortal.

"T-Thane…" her voice trailed as she tossed her head to and fro. _Thane?_

The Asgardian slowly withdrew his hand from the woman's face. Perhaps it would be safe if he would abandon her right now. He clasped the muzzle that constrained the lower part of his face. No, he was still too weak to go alone. But what were his alternatives?

He stood up and looked around. If his memory served him correctly, they were in the exact place where he and Thor had left for Asgard. Fortunately, only a handful of ignorant mortals lingered in the area. Judging by their actions, they had not taken any notice of them—yet. No one would alert the Avengers.

_The Avengers…_

Loki balled his hands into fists. The memory of his defeat flashed before his eyes. A group of unusual mortals, plus his oafish brother, banded together to defeat his almost perfect army. His plan almost succeeded—but in the end, it failed horribly. He squinted his eyes shut and shook his head. Those mortals would never get away for their treachery! Loki inhaled some Midgardian air and exhaled. He would soon rebuild his army—after he destroyed the Avengers completely.

As he turned around to leave the unconscious woman, he heard another painful groan.

"Don't…" she said.

Loki spun around to the strange woman's location. Mortals were very much similar with each other—yet why did the air of mystery lingered in her? He glanced at their surroundings; still, no one cared to approach them. He narrowed his eyes as he observed the woman. Her actions told him a story of an intolerable pain—a hell of a nightmare—inside of her. She squirmed, clawed the blades of grass beneath her, and turned sideways.

"…I…won't…die…that…easily!"

The Asgardian sighed. Should he give assistance or not? After all, she was the one responsible for his freedom. He shrugged his shoulders and crouched beside the mortal. Loki was about to hold her shoulder when he felt a quick burst of wind came from his left side. Letting his reflexes take over, Loki barely interecpted the crimson wind that almost came in contact with his face. Still shaking, he tried to refocus his vision and realized that he was holding a balled fist. He took his eyes off the fist and to the attacker. What greeted him was a pair of ferocious blood-colored eyes staring right at him.

He continued to grasp the incoming attack from the woman. Their arms shook violently until he pushed her away. The woman rolled out and skidded a few feet away from him. The Asgardian gave a big sigh, smoothed his black coat, and calmly stood up without leaving his gaze on the woman.

"You…" Shepard gritted her teeth and stood up, "You're the one called Loki, right?"

Loki nodded.

Shepard rolled her eyes. "Great, it's only a matter of time before Thor and his people rush here," she sighed, "It's not like I can do anything about it. They've already convinced themselves that I'm their enemy."

The man in the black coat stood still.

"I need some answers: Where am I now? You pushed me from the path and I landed in—" Shepard gasped, "What the—is this Earth?"

She squint her eyes and shook her head vigorously. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a green-filled paradise before her. It looked like the Presidium—with less buildings, fountains, and whitewashed walls. She turned around and what beheld her were the skyscrapers that almost reached the clear blue skies.

Shepard shook her head. "No, this isn't Earth," she whispered. She rubbed her temples in a small, circular motion. "I'm still dreaming. See, that Loki guy is still in front of you," she sighed and looked up, hoping that the man clad in black and green armor would just fade away. She stared at the man and the man stared back at him. His emerald green eyes almost reminded her of her beloved pilot, Joker. But the rest of his appearance told her otherwise.

"You and this place—it's just a part of my nightmares!"

Loki merely tilted his head sideways and blinked.

Shepard waved her hands up high. "Just go and disappear already!"

The man narrowed his eyes. Shepard groaned and turned around. "Okay, that's it! If you can't walk away, then I will!" she growled and marched away, "I'm sure there's a way out here."

The scenery felt familiar yet different to her sights. Her boots clanked on the reddish brown pathway. It had been a while since she had seen bricked pathways. The ground she used to see were made of metal, cement, or dirt. She scanned the area. There were no signs of any Reaper attack. She tried to observe the inhabitants. They all looked human; but it was impossible for her to be on Earth. How could this be?

"Look mom, someone's wearing some weird clothes!" a child-like voice squeaked.

"Shhhh Luke, don't go near the bad guy!"

_Bad guy?_ The commander paused and turned to the speaker. Sure enough, the two had some sick sense of fashion. _These idiots didn't even have a clue about military issue armors._ Shepard glared at the woman. The woman returned the gesture, pulled the young freckled boy near her, and strutted away.

_Ingrates..._ Shepard growled within herself. She closed her eyes, inhaled, and exhaled. The moment she opened it again, a familiar figure stood a few feet away from her. His short light brown hair stayed almost perfectly still in the almost airless place. The dirty cream colored hooded jacket, blue jeans, and the innocent look on his young face brought her memories. The day the Reapers landed on Earth and began to destroy everything on sight.

Her surroundings suddenly went into slow motions. The air around her turned icy cold; and her heart hammered on her chest. People stole glances at her but she didn't care. Whisperings came out from nowhere like resounding memories in her ear. Ashes started to rise up from the ground and the stench of war lingered in her nose. The boy looked at her helplessly and started to run away.

"Wait!" she called out as she ran after the boy.

_You can't save anyone. You never did._

"What the—?" Shepard shook her head and continued running.

_You even sacrificed three-fourths of your men in Torfan for the sake of the mission._

"Shut up!" Shepard gritted her teeth while not leaving her sights on the running boy.

_Do you think that saving Joker from imminent death can erase the fact that you left the human fleet—_

"It's a sacrifice I have to make!"

_For what? For those three little idiots who never believed in any word you said? For those proud fools who never cared about humanity?_

"I did that so I can shove to their faces the truth!"

_But they didn't believe… you should have left the Destiny Ascencion to be consumed._

"It's all worth it. They joined the war effort."

_So a thousand must die so a million can live?_

"YO BITCH, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOIN'!"

A quick, searing sensation suddenly fell on her skin. Her vision became blurry then it returned to normal. Shepard found herself in front of two trying hard gangsters. They reminded her of Conrad Verner in his imitation N7 suit of armor. She looked around, but the boy was gone. Towering bricked buildings stood on her left and right side, leaving a passageway to a dark alley at her back, and the two hoodlums on her front.

Shepard felt another pain in her joints but she tried not to show it. "What do you want?"

One of the guys snorted. "What do _we_ want? You're the want who bumped to us!"

"Bumped you? I don't even know you exist."

The two guys almost popped their eyes out. They looked at each other and smirked—in a bad way. "Really, bitch, you don't want to be messing with us."

Shepard tried to resist the temptation of drawing her gun. "Think long and hard before you say those words, kids," she said, "I just need to get back to the front line. I don't care who or what you are. But I'm only going to say this once: STAY. OUT. OF. MY. WAY—or you'll get **HURT**."

The one with the fairly huge brown cap laughed. "Nice try bitch, but you ain't scaring us!" he said. In a quick movement, he drew out a gun and pulled the trigger.

After the act, Shepard calmly stood in front of the dumbfounded idiots. She barely heard a crack on her shields. "Nice try, kids," she laughed while activating her omniblade, "You've been warned: MY TURN!"

Without another word, the commander charged at them. The two guys attempted to defend themselves but Shepard made a quick job out of them. A couple of right hooks and jabs to the jaw already knocked them out cold. As the two assailants lay down at her feet, Shepard took one by the collar, pinned him against the wall, and snarled. "You guys are so helplessly pathetic that I didn't even have to use my omniblade on you," she grinned, "And now you're peeing on your pants. Well just to make this little waste of time worth it: I need directions for your MedBay, or a branch of Sirta Foundation."

"W-what the hell are you talking about?"

Shepard narrowed her eyes and dug her fists deeply into his collarbone, causing the poor man to scream. "I'm not playing games anymore. I need three things now: communication, medi-gels, and thermal clips," her tone became icier, "Start talking before I cut of those little balls in your crotch and stuff them to your mouth."

The guy let out a pathetic squeak. "Oh god, no, please! I swear I don't have any idea of what you are talking about."

Shepard reactivated her omniblade and shoved it near the man's eye. "I don't think you value your balls much," she said, "Maybe I should add your eyeballs in the menu."

The man trembled. Big drops of sweat began to form on his forehead. "No, lady, I ain't know nothing so please, let me go!"

"You useless little piece of pyjack shit—you dare pick on people like you know everything; but your brain is worse than Hanar jelly," she snarled and threw the man on a dumpster, "Oh well, I guess I have to scour this….city to find out for myself."

.

.

.

.

The odd human city was more complicated than Shepard had perceived it to be. Waves of people seemed to come from all direction. The hustle and bustle was far worse than the Citadel's. Everyone was babbling on their communicators with a cup of caffiene in hand. Strange-looking land rovers dash down the cement-paved streets. Neon lights and birght posters were plastered around the huge intersection. Huge advertisements of plays, dramas, and movies were hung up on the walls, surrounded by blinking yellow lights.

As she strutted down the paved sidewalk, she noticed a white van with a red cross on the side and a red, blaring light on top. "Must be the ambulance," she mused, "I hope they still have a supply of medi-gel."

Ignoring all the looks from other people, Shepard crossed the street in almost an instant. Shoving and pushing other pedestrians didn't bother her much. She kept her eyes focused on the white van until it went to a huge, well structured buildng. Without hesitation, she marched onward to the sliding glass door to the reception area.

"I'm Commander Jane Shepard—Alliance Miliatry personnel and a Spectre," Shepard leaned on the edge of the desk, "I need details of my current location, medi-gel, additional supplies, and thermal clips now."

The young, brunette receptionist didn't speak for a few minutes until she cleared her throat. "I—uh, you're in a hospital here in New York City and—"

Shepard interrupted. "Wait, did you just say NEW YORK? Are you crazy? I've visited this place once—and it's far more advanced—and dirtier— than what I see this time!"

"I-I don't understand—"

Shepard slammed her fist on the desk. "Stop fooling around, miss. I don't know if you're with the Reapers or not. But if you try to hide anything from me—"

"Ma'am, please calm down."

"How the hell I'm supposed to calm down when you tell me that I'm miles away from London!" Shepard half screamed, "My team, my squad, and the whole army need me there—and here am I, in the middle of nowhere of an outdated-like city!"

"Ma'am, one last warning…" a deeper voice came behind her. Soon enough, she could hear heavy footsteps coming towards her, "Or else we have to take you down."

_Run for your life, Jane! They can't be trusted!_

The hard words stung on her air that she breathed suddenly became thinner. Flashes of memories started to appear: Memories of abusive law enforcers beating up defenseless juveniles who were just trying to survive in the tough life of the metropolis, the dog-eat-dog prinicple of the undercity, the life of having to survive alone—without a shred of trust and mercy given to anyone, and the way of living through wits and guts.

She could feel guards aiming their guns at her. Bastards, she thought. Probably she was in an area controlled by the Reapers. Her brain screamed that the humans she was seeing were actually husks. Stealthily, she activated her omni-tool underneath the desk. The enemies were far too many to be tackled alone. She needed some vantage point, a good spot to flank her enemies. But first, she needed to…disappear.

"Huh, what the hell?" one of the guards cried upon seeing the newcomer vanish from the desk.

"Hold your fire!" ordered the head guard, "We've got injured civilians here, remember? Keep your search as discreet as possible."

"Yes sir!"

Shepard didn't wait for any of them to disperse. Her cloaking wouldn't last for long; and she had to pillage every supply she needed to survive. Sprinting up the long flight of stairs, Shepard tried to look for medi-gel, or some resemblance for it. After a few minutes of searching, she felt the tactical wear off. She hid in a tiny closet and activated her Archon Visor, hoping that it would speeden up the recharge time.

"Just use tranquilizers," she heard a voice outside say, "Can't risk any casualties…"

"Husks know how to use tranquilizers?" Shepard let a small puff of air from her nose.

_Run, while you still can! They're coming for you! To them, you are the alien, the foreigner, the enemy. Look how they tried to neutralize you! You are the unwanted piece in their world._

Shepard felt her skull being hammered. "Just shut up, alright!" she groaned.

"Huh, what's that noise?"

"Oh shit, not now," she whispered while looking at her omni-tool. Only a few seconds left before a full recharge.

"I think it's coming from this closet."

Shepard let out a long sigh, pulled out her submachine gun, switched it to Cyro ammo, and aimed at the door. She could hear her blood pulsating on her ears, ready to burst out. She gripped her gun firmly with a finger readied on the trigger. In a split second, the door swung open, revealing two figures. Without thinking, she sprayed her cyro-cloaked bullets and turned them to ice in an instant. She jumped out of the closet, activated her tactical cloak, and made a run for it.

Sprinting through the corridors, she almost ran into a toussled haired, bearded man carrying a huge boquet of flowers. Luckily, she only slid right in front of the man, missing a few centimeters. She scanned the area and went into a room named _Stockroom._

"Just any meds, please…" Shepard said to herself as she scoured at a box of tiny canisters. She took one that was labeled _Painkillers_ and started to head for the exit.

Before she could head out to the main door, she found a group of black-armored men armed with high-caliber guns. Having her cloaking deactivated again, she ducked behind the potted plants and collected her thoughts. It seemed that they were all up to taking her down. A few had already been dispersed but still, a huge number still remained on the front door.

_Don't hesitate to take the risk, Jane. Their lives mean nothing to you—only yours._

"Shut up! I can't waste my bullets on them!"

_Who says about bullets? Don't worry, they're just husks…._

She looked at her arsenal and spied two sticky grenades. She looked at the crowd of guards, then back at her grenades. "No time to think about this," she said to herself, "The longer I stay here, the greater chances I'll get caught."

Shepard reactivated her tactical cloaking, sneaked up behind the largest cluster of guards, stuck the grenade on the holster, and get out of the scene. Almost in an instant, the grenade exploded, causing panic to the other guards. While the survivors were searching the corridors, the commander quietly slipped away from the hospital.

.

.

.

.

Shepard ran until she reached the crowded square. She needed to hide, but how and where? She activated the HUD in her visor. Surprisingly, she couldn't find any available maps for the area. She sighed and jogged along the sea of people. Upon reaching a dark alleyway, she diverted from the crowd and went to a dark, open area. She went to the center of the area, pulled out the canister of pills, and popped a few to her mouth. After swallowing, she adjusted the frequency of her communicator.

"Shepard to Normandy: do you copy?" she said upon opening her communicator.

Only a loud static answered her call.

Shepard cursed under her breath and tried another frequency. "Shepard to Admiral Hackett: can you hear me?"

Nothing but a static.

"Shepard to anyone—anybody?"

_Stop trying Jane; you're all alone now. No one to depend on but yourself…_

"No, I have my squad to watch back at all times."

_But why aren't they answering you?_

Before she could answer, another white light blinded her eyes. She tried to shield the incoming rays with her arm, but it was no use. When the light disappeared, the boy in her dreams stood in front of her.

"You again?"

"We're all alone," he whimpered, "We're trapped; and we can't escape. They're coming for us. We can't do anything about it. We can run—but we can't hide. We did all our best to defeat them; but we didn't realize in our efforts, we are just digging our graves."

Shepard shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

"We lost, Jane."

Shepard gritted her teeth. "If it's about the Reapers, let me tell you: I won't rest 'til they're gone!"

"But you're already dead."

Before Shepard could even think of retorting, a loud humming sound came above her. It sounded like a flying jet. She looked up to the blue sky and saw an armored figure. The jet-like emissions were coming from the armored man's boots. As the man came down from the air, she could already judge how advanced the tech the armor was made of. And she could only think of one organization that could afford to have such technology—Cerberus.

"Okay now," the hot red-and-gold armored man said, "I was about to let the guards and the SWAT to take in charge of this one. But I don't think they can handle you. Besides, you almost killed Pepper with that grenade of yours. She's in the lobby when you did that, you know. So, I think I'll join the party."

Shepard instinctively pulled out her heavy pistol and switched it to Disruptor. "I don't care who you are. But one thing's for sure—you're with Cerberus. And if you're here to avenge the Illusive Man's death—"

"Uh, who? I think you're mistaking me for somebody."

Shepard activated her omni-tool and set it to Sabotage. "Don't play coy, Cerberus puppet! It's time to take out that little robot toy of yours!"

The two circled around the square arena, keeping their gaze with each other. While they concentrated on each other's moves, they didn't notice a tall figure hiding behind the shadows. He stood still, unmoving like the cold, still air in the dark alley. His emerald green eyes locked on the two figures who were about to blow each other up.

"I suppose bringing her here is not much of a bad idea," Loki mused, "Yet, her behavior is still a wonder to me."

* * *

_**A/N:** Hello again, thank you for waiting and I hope this is a good one to start the tension. I hope you won't kill me for this. And don't worry, Loki will have more part in the next chapter: Public Enemy. Also, she'll get to meet the whole Avengers gang, in case you're wondering...but don't expect a smooth flow meeting. Hope you'll still tune in for the next chapter._

_For the ones who reviewed: Amir-015, nemo, douchiesnacks, Elisa, JamesXenoS, Straight Edghe, Noir Detective, EmberEternal, Blinded in a bolthole, and anon; and also for the ones who Alerted and Faved...THANK YOU VERY MUCH! HUGS AND KISSES FOR ALL OF YOU!_

_So what's your reaction? Shocked? Pissed? Bored? Crazy? Please let me know...FREE BOTTLE OF RYNCOL FOR EVERYONE WHO REVIEWS THIS CHAPTER! (and in an "EDI" voice: **That is a joke**.)_


	4. Public Enemy

**Chapter IV:**

**Public Enemy**

_Vengeance…_is the only thing that kept her going when Thane died; the only emotion that fueled her in the latter days of the war; and the only thing that she had in mind when she and the Alliance attacked the Cronos Station.

Stabbing Kai Leng wasn't enough—shooting the Illusive Man didn't give her the satisfaction either. And she didn't care if they were the ones behind her recovery. The problems that they gave her outweigh the actual "benefits" that they had done for humanity. Everytime she could hear the gunshots at Mars, Thane's dying breath at Huerta, the asari's desperate distress calls at Thessia, and the cry of the civilians getting turned into husks at the Sanctuary, Shepard wanted Cerberus crushed to the ground more than ever.

And the supposed Cerberus tech was there to give vent to her frustration.

"What's wrong with the color of your suit, huh?" Shepard taunted, "Tired with your white-black-and-yellow motiff?"

The armored man hovered opposite to her direction. "On the contrary, I never have armor with that color combination. Maybe I should give it a try next time."

Shepard clenched her fists. Kai Leng had been very annyoing for a Cerberus agent; but he had always been proud of his affiliation with the organization. Everyone that was still affiliated with Cerberus seemed to be. But why was this person trying to deny his connection? "I guess you're now hiding like a rat just because The Illusive Man is dead," Shepard said, "You're nothing but power-hungry individuals who use the cause of humanity to hide your own selfish interests. You don't help humanity—you destroy it."

"Hey, hey, watch your comments, lady!" the man retorted, "We've just saved New York from a crazy god a few months ago. Isn't that enough proof that I'm one of the good guys?"

"What are you talking about? Earth has been attacked by the Reapers—killing and harvesting people by the thousands; and you're talking about a crazy god?" Shepard's tone rose, "If you're a good guy, you should've helped with the war effort—not go against it!"

Shepard and the armored man's movements stopped at the same moment. The man's jet booster-like boots deactivated and he landed calmly on the ground. Shepard's HUD hinted her that the armor had been cloaked by a shield and armor plating, much to her dismay. She couldn't see any weapons except the glowing inverted triangle on the armor's chest, which she supposed to be some energy beam gun like what the Reapers had.

The armored man cleared his throat. "Ok, I guess there's no need to fight; let's sort this out—"

Shepard aimed her M-77 Paladin at the armor's chest. "Too late for that! Cerberus helped humanity die— I've seen that on the Sanctuary myself! You told the refugees the Sanctuary is the place where they can be safe from the Reaper threat. But what did you do? You turned them into husks—just like what the Reapers do!"

"W-what? But we just protected—WHOA!" the armored man gasped as bullets punctured through his shields, "Wait, I don't even know what you're—" his sentence was cut out with a series of shots. He flew upwards to evade the attack but the shots kept coming.

"You good for nothing idiots—you don't even deserve to be called the protectors of humanity!" Shepard took out the heated thermal clip and continued firing, "Who do you think you are to say that you don't know anything about this?"

"Uh, I'm Iron Man by the way!" the armored man sputtered as he dodged the incoming blue shards, "How did you manage to destroy my sheilds?" he flew and aimed his palms at Shepard and started shooting beams of energy.

"What the—argh!" the commander screamed when a blast hit her left thigh. Shepard collected her strength to roll away from the blasts to a nearby dumpster. "I guess it's no brainer that you've even incorporated Reaper tech in your armors!" she said while reloading. She tried to look out from her cover, but another blast forced her to duck.

"This is 100% **STARK INDUSTRIES** TECH! Don't forget that!"

_Stark Industries?_ Shepard blinked. She never knew such corporation. "What's that, huh: one of Cerberus' cover companies? Miranda told me that such things exist."

"Okay, that's way too much for an accusation!" Iron Man blasted the dumpster away, "My grandfather started this company from sweat and blood—"

Before Iron Man could finish his sentence, Shepard strafed to the right while showering him with blue-colored bullets. "I don't care even if your ancestors sacrificed their children to appease the Reapers!" Shepard paused, "Wait, what did I just say? Forget it. All I know is, you've been sent here to finish me!"

"I wasn't sent by anyone. Maybe you're the one's been sent by somebody!"

"Yeah, I was sent by Death to destory you and your BS-filled organization!" Shepard rolled towards Iron Man and shot one of his jet boots. While the armored enemy swayed uncontrollably in the air, the commander jumped away and threw an Incinerate at him. The attack came in contact with armor; yet why did her HUD tell her that the armor part of the suit was partly undamaged?

"Sorry, that won't work on my armor," said iron Man as he shot a series of beams from his palms.

The commander sprinted as fast as her injured legs could carry her to the nearest cover. Her limbs were ready to give up; but Shepard wasn't. As soon as she neared the cover, she took a diving jump and rolled to cover, which was eventually shattered by missile-like projectiles. "Damn you and your fancy suit!" she cursed. She got up, fired the last four shots on her pistol, and ran for the next nearest cover.

"Why don't you just surrender?" Iron Man asked, "We're not going anywhere with you running from cover to cover."

"Why don't _you_ surrender, then?"

"No I won't. I've got the upper hand here!" Iron Man replied and gave another series of blue-colored rays.

"Stubborn ass," Shepard growled, "Maybe you'll talk after I turn your shiny armor to scrap metal," she switched the ammo mode of her M9 Tempest from Disruptor to Cyro. Sprinting to avoid the blasts, Shepard vaulted to a tall cement block nearby and aimed. But Iron Man was too far to get her plan in action. Before she could even get back to her cover, tiny black pellets flew close to her face; and in a split second, the pellets exploded, throwing her against the wall.

"I won't let you do any crazy act again," Iron Man said as he lowered down towards her, "And congratualtions, by the way, you've just proved that you're no ordinary criminal to be sent to jail. I'm taking you to S.H.I.E.L.D."

_What? Another Cerberus branch, I guess. _Shepard activated her omni-tool, "You're not taking me anywhere!" she aimed the device and sabotaged the systems. With her luck, the man did not even manage to take another step towards her. After a few sparks, Shepard controlled the armor to step back. "Well, well, your armor shcematics say that you've got an AI connected. Too bad I can't do the same in EDI," Shepard sighed and looked at her device's timer. It was only a few more seconds until Iron Man would regain control of his suit; and she had to make the best of it. She downloaded all the info she could get until the timer ran out.

Iron Man groaned. "J-Jarvis, block it—"

"Sorry robo-man, Systems Alliance Infiltrators have the best hacking devices in the Alliance Navy," Shepard smiled, "Many have tried and failed: It's virtually unblockable."

"Really, I'm impressed," Iron Man moved his head side-to-side, "But it think it wore out a little bit faster than I expected."

Shepard smirked and aimed her submachine gun at him. "That's what you call, setback," she said then pulled the trigger. The armored man raised his hand as if to protect himself but she knew it would be useless. Cyro bullets cloaked the armor with ice in a matter of seconds, creating an ice statue. "But it's not a big problem, actually. Bye-bye," she smiled and set her omni-tool to Incinerate. Shepard took a few steps back and fired the incinerator.

_**CRASH!**_

As the shards of white crystal flew in all directons, Shepard strained her eyes to see her enemy through the thick smoke. It had been an easy fight—way too easy. Even her fight with Kai Leng wasn't this easy. Could this be a trap—a ruse to let down her guard?

She looked at her handheld guns: both of them were already overheated without any spare thermal clips. She strained her eyes to search through the receding smoke. "Come on, where are you?" Shepard muttered; but at the back of her mind, she knew that only a few creatures would only survive that attack combo— specifically Reaper creatures.

The mist slowly went away, revealing a shadowy figure. When it finally cleared out, Iron Man was limply standing on the ground. The shine in his armor faded and signs of damaged caused by the combo appeared profusely. "Ok, that does it!" Iron Man said, "I don't know how you can trash my armor that easily. But you'll pay for that!"

"Damn, you're one tough son of a—" Shepard grunted as Iron Man made a flying tackle towards her. He had caught her by the waist and before she knew it, her feet left off the ground and now going towards the rooftops. "Get your hands off me!" she activated her forked omni-blade, thrust it on his left shoulder. Instantaneously, her omni-blade's built-in electrical currents rushed through the suit and hopefully fried its circuits.

"Argh!" Iron Man roared and slightly lost his grip on her. She took the chance and slid down before the electrical current could reach her. She landed on the roof with a _thud_. Almost immediately, she felt a crushing pain on her right shoulder, making her cringe.

"Owww, looks like I'm going to sue Armax Arsenal for giving me such low quality shoulder guards," Shepard muttered as she held her injured shoulder and tried to roll towards the cover. She could feel her exhaustion getting the best of her. If she couldn't defeat the Cerberus agent before she expires, she would be done for. Panting, she grabbed the foot of the water tank and pulled herself up. She knew that the electrical current wouldn't finish the job; but she knew something that would.

She took the painkillers in her pocket and stuffed the remaining pills in her mouth. While chewing the meds, Shepard dragged her feet towards the thickest and largest cover in the rooftop. She plastered her back against the generator and pulled out her final weapon—Javelin.

"Even Brutes bow down to this thing," Shepard smiled, "Hello people, this is Geth tech at its best."

Soon enough, Iron Man flew up to the rooftops, possibly scanning the area. To keep her element of surprise, she switched on her Tactical Cloak and took a careful aim. The pains in her right shoulder and in her left wrist were stopping her to get a steady aim; but she ignored it. She only had one good shot and she had no intention of wasting it.

"Jarvis, scan the area," Iron Man said while looking around, "What? There's no one in here? That's impossible!"

Shepard grinned. "This guy has too much to learn about Infiltrators," she whispered as she tried to aim for his head. The pain started to fade away, much to her relief. But the weight of the Geth sniper rifle still burdened her injured limbs. She gripped the barrel of the rifle and looked at the scope. The objects in the scope started to move in slow motion. She could hear her blood pulsating on her eardrums, making it much harder to concentrate. "Come on, focus!" she shook her head and relooked at the scope. Her cloaking time was running out; she had to move fast. She moved the red dot on her scope toward's Iron Man's head, held the trigger to charge, inhaled and exhaled, and released the shot.

She looked at her scope as the heated ferrofluid ran on high velocity towards her assailant's face. Her aim was perfect, she assured herself. And even though there would be a slight miscalculation in her aim, the Javelin never failed to tear through one meter-thick objects.

_**CLANK!**_

Shepard thought time had stopped moving. _Impossible_, she thought. The shot came in contact on the helmet's chin part, removed the yellow plate on his face, and scratched on Iron Man's cheek. "My shot wasn't supposed to miss!" she gritted her teeth. Without thinking, she sprinted towards the edge of the building and leaped towards the flying armor. While in mid-air, she reactivated her omni-blade, ready to impale his face as soon as she made contact.

"Whoa, what was that shot?" Iron Man rubbed his cheek, "My armor wasn't supposed to be taken out by ordinary—what the?"

Iron Man looked up and saw the woman high up in mid-air with the deadly forked blade on her right arm. He hovered backwards and aimed his repulsor ray but it was too late. The tech warrior landed right on top of him, making him lose his balance momentarily. He flew in random directions, trying to shake her off; but she merely locked her limbs on him. She thrust the blade on him but he stretched his head as far as possible away from the charged blades.

Desperately, he took hold of her right arm but the weapon glowed red and started to melt his glove. "I admit: your blade looks cool. But I don't want that on my face or in any part of my body!" he said.

"Well, that's too bad," Shepard grabbed the armor's right shoulder and steadied herself on the armor. "I don't know how you managed to ward off the shot but I'm sure this will end you!" she roared and made another attempt to thrust the vulnerable part of the armor. But a red gauntlet blocked her attack. She tried to wriggle her hand free but it was stuck. Grunting, she pulled out her last sticky grenade, stuck it on the armor's glowing inverted triangle, yanked her arm free, and jumped away just in time a small explosion occurred.

"Ugh!" Shepard grunted as she was thrown away from the blast. Fortunately, she managed to grab a rung of a steel ladder to break her fall. Pausing to collect her strength, Shepard inhaled and forced her limbs to steady her balance in the ladder. She looked around and saw a cloud of dust a few feet away from her. "I hope he's gone for good," she slid carefully down the ladder, not wanting to inflict pain on her left thigh. Limping, she dared to walk through the receding cloud of dust towards a small crater in the ground.

The only thing that she could see was a faded, dented, and partially destroyed armor lying helplessly on the ground. Sparks of light flew from the armor's chest weapon. She activated her omni-blade and slowly went down to the center of the crater.

"Uhhh…" she heard a man groan.

"Still alive, huh?" Shepard shook her head and raised her blade, "Not for long."

She saw a speck of flesh-colored part on the armor's face. "Bingo," she grinned. Shepard charged towards the armor; and she almost struck Iron Man's face with her omni-blade when she suddenly saw crimson liquid on his face. "Wait—you're human?"

"What do you think I am? A robot?"

"You're not infused with Reaper tech? You're not indoctrinated?" Shepard stepped back while shaking her head, "The Illusive Man said he upgraded—"

"Look here, lady: how many times do I have to tell you that I don't know what you're talking about?" Iron Man groaned and held the glowing piece on his chest, "Luckily, the arc reactor only suffered minor damages…well, only the arc reactor. At least that will still keep me alive…"

Shepard's heart missed a beat. "No…no…" she muttered. She was sure that all Cerberus troops were indoctrinated. The Illusive Man had already told her of his dream of humanity's improvement through infusing Reaper technology to humans. They were supposed to look like husks—with all those blue glowing lines etched on their face and eyes.

She studied the man's face. His features told her that she had met him just recently. "You—you're at the hospital…with the huge boquet of flowers?" she asked.

"Yeah, I was paying Pepper a visit…"

"Why do you act like an ordinary human being?" Shepard's tone rose, "You're supposed to follow The Illusive Man's orders!"

Iron Man grunted. "Who the hell is the Illusive Man, anyway? Why are you linking me to him?"

Shepard felt another pang of pain in her head—the exact pain she had felt during her confrontation with him inside the unfamiliar part of the Citadel. "No, you're lying. You're trying to make me believe that you're not one of them," she said while enduring the pulsating pain in her head. Perhaps he wasn't an ally of Cerberus—but maybe something worse. Shepard's heart beat faster. How did this all happen?

She limped to him until she was exactly above his face, "You're not linked to him—because you're the Illusive Man himself!"

"WHAT?" Iron Man's facial expression was unrecognizable.

Shepard raised her omni-blade. "That is why I still can see things, have these headaches, and nightmares—all because a Reaper lapdog still exists!"

Before she could drive her weapon to his face, a sharp pain drove right through her right arm. Groaning, she looked and saw a long, thin, metal stick with a feather-like thing attatched to its one end stuck on her arm. She pulled it out not long before another one of those sticks hit the ground near her foot and emitted a colored gas.

"What the—" Shepard covered her nose but it was too late. Light headedness replaced the pain lingering in her head. Her eyes became heavy and her vision started to get blurry, "This is making me—uhhh…" she droned and lost consciousness.

* * *

. . .

* * *

_If it isn't the pathetic little hawk and his group of desperate mortals…_

Loki frowned at the end of the amusing show of dueling mortals. He enjoyed every move that the mortal called Jane did to Stark. It served the arrogant fool right. He would have burned his defiant face off, now that his powers were sufficient enough to do so; yet it would be much more amusing if Jane had managed to impale her blade right through his skull. She was so close in doing the act that he could almost hear Stark's painful scream; but at the very climactic event of the fight, why now?

The trickster hid himself in the shadows as the mortal agents zipped down near the iron armor. There were about a hanful in the area—all of them were fully armed—but the only recognizable creatures there were Stark and the archer. His strength was far from adequate to initiate an encounter, thus making him want to flee from the scene; but leaving a potential asset like Jane in the hands of his enemies would be a bad decision.

"Good thing you got here just before I get butchered, Clint," Stark whistled while lying still on the ground, "Bet you S.H.I.E.L.D. people are already tracking this good lady for awhile, yes?"

"Not really," the archer replied while checking the knocked-down woman, "We've just been alerted when we found out there's an unusual commotion back at the general hospital 'round the corner. Other than that, we have no idea who this woman is…"

"Wait, S.H.I.E.L.D. has no records of her? So she's not some super villain-criminal or someone who needs to get locked up?"

"Not that I know of. She needs to be brought to the helicarrier for interrogation. And honestly, that's the first time I've ever seen a battle gear like this. It looks a little bit—futuristic." the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent placed his bow on his back while walking towards Stark, "That's why _you're _also coming with us. We want to make sure this is not one of your techs. Can you move?"

The man on the ground groaned. "Wha—why—Ok, fine; but can I at least have some medical attention first? Besides, I need to check if my little arc reactor here is fuctioning properly. Can't risk it, you know."

"You can do that once we get back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier."

Stark sighed. "I'll check if my armor's capabilities and see if it's still functioning," he said while he raised up his arm near to his face and tried to fiddle with some wires, "I really want to know where she got her gear. Because the way she just—well, you can see me now. Ah damn, I want to study her weapons and that electrically-charged heated holo-blade thingy. And I promised Pepper and I will go out for dinner tonight…"

"Just tell her it's S.H.I.E.L.D. business."

"Hey, you and I are still supposed to be on vacation!" Stark retorted, "And this thing comes up and we're forced to go back on duty."

"So, can you still move?"

"Yeah, yeah…just give me a minute to reboot. That woman damaged my armor's systems badly!"

Loki couldn't help but groan at this misfortune. It seemed that the mortals had already rebuilt their sky fortress; and infiltrating them this point in time would only mean suicide for him. He watched as the agents hauled Jane to their mode of transportation. Things were going to get much too complicated if he would allow them to interrogate her. What if she mentioned that he was with her? What if they found out that he escaped his confinement? And worse: what if they turned her _against_ him? Vivid thoughts ran wildly in his head. Jane, in her present condition, would be an easy prey for them to convince. And an additional enemy was the last thing he ever wanted.

A pathetic, unwary agent neared his location. Like a deadly bird of prey, Loki siezed the mortal's head, snapped its neck and hid him in the shadows. Using his magic, he tried to extract information in the mortal. He quickily studied the man's physique and started to concentrate. He pictured the agent's physical characterisitcs in his mind and soon enough, he already felt his form shifting. His skin and muscles shifted slowly, emulating the mortal's form. The warmth inside him indicated that his magic was already working in him.

He stood still while the transformation occurred and within a few minutes, it was already done. He looked at his new form and couldn't help but grin. At least he was temporarily free from his oral restraints—even he was in a frail, mortal form.

Loki picked up the dead mortal's pathetic prop and approached Stark and the archer. "The perimeter has been secured," he tried to imitate the mortal's salute, "No other hostiles can be found in the area."

The archer's serious frown ceased. "Good. Head back to the jet along with our new _friend _over there."

"You have no right to—what I mean is—yes sir."

Stark raised an eyebrow. "Whoa, he's kinda weird, you know. A new recruit, eh, Clint?"

The archer nodded his head. "Yeah. We lost a good number of people back then. It's just necessary to replenish our numbers," he noted and turned to Loki in disguise, "Move out. Now."

Loki merely nodded his head and walked towards their mode of transportation. Submitting to that pathetic archer's orders was way beyond his tolerance. To think that the archer was the one obeying _his_ commands back then! _Soon mortals, you will be the ones obeying me…_Loki suppresed his laugh as he hopped inside their metallic avian.

The interior of the ship had brought him back to some good memories. Yes, the time when he had let himself get caught on purpose. The plan was perfect—even it was discovered a few minutes before the Hulk had transformed in his rage. He had successfully destroyed their floating stronghold because of that commotion. But now every event that he could remember in Midgard was only associated with his shame.

He posted himself beside the female captive and silently watched as the two Avengers made their way to their communication panel. He felt the ground underneath him suddenly lifted and before he knew it, he could only see the clouds in the sky. Wasting no time, he discreetly eavesdropped at the mortal's conversation with the machine.

"Let me get this straight—this woman isn't even found in the government records!"

Loki perked up his ears to the conversation at the front seat. "This should be interesting," he whispered.

"You're right," Loki heard the mortal called Fury at the mortal's communication device, "We've searched every face that will match the picture you've given me; but nothing showed up. We're now contacting other governments and inquire if they recognize this woman."

"Okay, this is getting creepy," Stark shook his head, "A woman with no identity starts rampaging around a hospital, blows up a SWAT team, and throws silly accusations at me and almost gets me killed… come on, I still haven't got my full vacation break privilege."

"I don't think we need to assemble the Avengers at this point," said Fury, "One woman will not be a threat to national security; although I see the need in interrogating her. But if this situation gets worse…"

"I know," Stark sighed, "we have to get back to work…"

Loki almost laughed at the mortals' severity in their conversation. _And they are already feeling threatened by the appearance of a single woman? Pathetic._ He looked at Jane who was still soundly sleeping at the corner of the ship. He could hear some strange rumblings at her direction but he was unsure whether it came from her or from the transport they were riding.

He studied her face curiously. The ugly reddish scars still glowed on her cheeks and her fairly pronounced jaw line, as if it was somewhat alive. Stray locks of scarlet red hair fell lopsidedly on the right part of her face, making the rest of her appearance somewhat unrecognizable. The only thing that amused him was her slightly crooked nose that made her appearance a little bit hilarious to him. But all of those things fell flat compared to her profile. Her distraught nature, fierce attitude, and enigmatic background had all been appealing for the Trickster. She was all he needed to keep himself in the dark while preparing for his revenge.

_And who will be the meatshield now?_

* * *

_**A/N:** Not too much movement here, sorry. It's just that it's harder to concentrate on fanfic writing now that my schooling has already started (graduating student, here). But don't worry, I'll continue to write. I'm just trying to set up a new writing routine to fit to my schedule. I hope you'll continue reading! :)_

_For the reviewers: kyle131996 , MRegarde, Blinded in a bolthole , Straight Edghe, JamesXenoS...THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME TO REVIEW!  
_

_And I'm also glad that some people are still putting up Alerts on this one. I hope you'll also continue reading!_

_So um, what do you think? Is the fight scene good enough or needs improvement? Cliffhangers? Boring? Please let me know. :)_


	5. Unpleasant Introductions

**Chapter V:**

**Unpleasant Introductions**

"I don't like this…" Clint Barton gripped the armrest of his seat in the jet. It had only been a few minutes since he neutralized the crimson red-armored woman; and he was certain that she had been properly sedated while on their way to the helicarrier. The only ones awake inside were the three new recruits, Tony Stark, and him—and he was sure everyone could be trusted. Then why was it that he felt being watched by a shady, dangerous figure?

"Huh, what? Er, sorry, I was too busy figuring out this—oh man!" Tony, who was sitting on the chair across the aisle, groaned while fiddling with the strange lady's handheld device, "How can this tiny device produce such a huge blade anyway—or am I looking at the wrong thing?"

Clint shook his head. Tony Stark, the genius weapons and gadgets inventor, is going gaga over some tiny device. "We've got more, worse problems than that, Stark," he sighed as he watched the tech-expert continue to childishly push random buttons at the handheld device, "That can wait—"

"Listen," Tony interrupted and shoved the tiny device in front of his face, "this thing you see here is making some sort of specialized magnetic fields that can produce opaque holograms. I've seen it myself. It can form an electrically charged forked blade or a gauntlet control panel that can mess up with my suit's capabilities. Heck, I think she can trash my suit by only pushing random buttons here! Besides, this woman over here just hacked my suit, downloaded some important files, and I just want to get it back—_badly_."

Clint narrowed his eyes and studied the mechanism. To him, it merely looked like a tiny scrap metal that could be used as an arrowhead. "What you say is a bit too—"

"What? Crazy?"

"Far-fetched," Clint put up simply, "How can a small thing be capable of doing a thousand, dangerous things?"

"And how can a little cylinder be used as an arrowhead and do various tricks?"

The archer fell silent for a minute. "That's classified," he finally said.

Tony rolled his eyes. "That's not my point. What I'm saying is—"

"That she's an assassin hired by one of your business competitors to destroy your suit?"

The tech-genius paused. "Okay….I don't think there's ANYONE who can afford that kind of flashy technology," he mused, "And look at her guns: they're not…normal."

"They don't _look _normal."

"No, not just the design," Tony insisted, "That weapon thingy stuck on her back uses some high-temperature, liquified ferrum as bullets. I just noticed it when I picked up my damaged face plate. Ordinary bullets don't _scald_ my suit to melting point. And you see those smaller guns? THEY'RE. NOT. EVEN. USING. BULLETS! The marks on my armor aren't just uniformed, round holes—they come from different, tiny shapes. Don't you think that's a little strange…?"

Clint sighed. The way Tony Stark elaborated the scientific stuff about the woman's weapons and his suit made him sick to his stomach. He wasn't very oriented with scientific stuff anyway. He discreetly shifted his sitting position and pretended to understand whatever the mechanical genius by nodding his head when he says: _"am I right?"_

As the two men were so preoccupied in their argument, Loki couldn't contain himself in the rear part of the transport. He had to patient if he wanted his plan to work. Seeing his inability to do anything rash by now irked him. He watched them as Stark tried in vain to explain the wonders of Jane's arsenal. Not one foolish mortal soul was aware of his presence. It was the perfect opportunity to strike an attack; but it would obviously blow his cover.

"Say Clint," Stark said, "I just noticed Tasha isn't with you. Is she still enjoying her vacation?"

The archer shook his head. "Director Fury made her go into a separate important mission."

Loki tried his best not to burst out laughing. _Feeble mortals going on an important mission? Really?_

"Which is?"

"Classified."

"Agent Hawkeye, we are approaching the helicarrier," the pilot interrupted.

Loki sighed in relief. Being in a cramped space with a bunch of idiotic Midgardians was too much for him. His anxiety was getting way overboard. He could already imagine a thousand ways to make these foolish mortals pay for their treachery—starting with the infidel, Tony Stark. His dark fantasies ended abruptly upon the sudden jolt underneath his seat. Groaning inside, he picked up his mortal prop and pretended to ready himself for the next order.

The archer stood up and faced him. "Alright, put her in the detention room. Make sure it's fully guarded," he stated while pointing a finger at Jane, "We still don't know what she can actually do; so make sure her confinement has the highest level of security. Take of the rest of the men. And remember—this situation is highly confidential: do not mention this to other agents unless authorized."

Loki made a mental eye-roll and tried to salute. "I understand," he barely whispered.

"Then get a move on."

"Hey, Clint, thanks for letting me borrow her stuff," Stark chimed in, "Don't worry, I won't dissect it—at least not much."

"I'll just get Director Fury; then _you'll _also have to join in the interrogation."

"Yeah, yeah, I also have a few questions for the lovely woman too."

Loki gave a second eye-roll and refused to hear the rest of the conversation. He let the other mortal agents carry on to the task of carrying Jane to the detention room as he silently followed behind. They seemed to have no intention of stalling their interrogation with Jane or putting off their search about Jane's enigmatic origins. Why, even he himself didn't know where in the nine worlds had this red-haired demented woman come from. But he wouldn't let his curiosity get the better of him—misdirection was his first priority.

* * *

For some reason, Shepard hoped that upon opening her eyes, she would just find herself in the Purgatory night club, sleeping next to Aria. It would be an unsettling sight; but least in that case, she knew her sanity was still intact.

But as always, her wishes were far from becoming a reality.

She sighed and tried to move. To her disappointment, her joints disobeyed her command, causing her sharp pains inside her body. She wildly shook her head and tried to refocus her mind away from the recurring pain. To her, it seemed like an interior of some Geth dreadnought—simple, bleak, and filled with loose wires hanging around the walls, floor and ceiling. No one could be seen around the perimeter and only the soft but deep hum of a machine could be heard.

She sighed again and forced herself to stand up. Judging how the light reflects around her, she guessed that her captors confined her in some sort of glass prison.

"And here I thought my day hasn't gotten any weirder…" Shepard groaned while tapping the glass case, "Doesn't look sturdy though. One good swipe from my omni blade and we're—what the?!"

Shepard glanced at her gauntlets. The small device that could activate her omni tool and blade were gone. She checked her weapons: but they were out of sight. Her heart suddenly starts to pound wildly. "Now _this_ situation looks shitty… How the hell did they even find out that it's there anyway?!"

"Stark did it," a cold, ominous voice whispered in front of her.

"Who the—?" Shepard looked and saw someone—an agent or soldier, to her estimates—standing calmly in front of her. The man, dressed in a midnight-black, full, sloppy-designed, battle gear, stiffly stood a few feet outside her glass cell. He also held a strange-looking rifle in his hand that might kill her in seconds. But Shepard didn't care too much about it—she needed info, facts about her place and her gear.

"I am a friend, mortal," the man spoke in a chilly mint voice.

"Friend?" Shepard scoffed, "Can you first say your definition of _friend_?"

"The very one that will bring you out of your miserable existence."

Shepard rolled her eyes. "That big gun tells me everything…"

"If I want you dead, foolish mortal, then I shall destroy you with my own magic—not with this terrible prop," the man replied in an icy tone and leaned towards the glass, "However, it is not my intention to destroy—but to aid."

"With a price, of course."

"Why does it matter?"

"Nah, just clarifying," Shepard shrugged her shoulders, "And your answer tells me that I'm right."

"I shall tell you the details later," the agent whispered, "but I have come with a warning."

Shepard felt her blood rising to boiling point. "Just spit it out already!"

"Remain silent if you wish to free yourself!"

The commander bared her teeth. "No one tells me what to do fucker!" she slammed her fist on the glass wall. Surprisingly, it did not break, "You need my help; and I need yours. THAT'S the simple version of this conversation. Now, tell me what is going on!"

"You dare speak to me that way, ungrateful mortal?"

"Hell yeah I do!"

"You have no choice but to cooperate with me," the man pressed his face against the glass barrier, "Unless you are willing to rot inside your cell."

The agent's voice took Shepard a few steps back. "Damn it! You leave me no choice," she reluctantly whispered, "Fine, I'll cooperate. Now what's the big secret?"

"These people are not your allies. They are the allies of your enemies."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, "Oh really? And I'm expected to believe that?"

"Do you remember the red-armored man?" the man paused to see the commander's startled reaction, "He is an ally of your captors. And he asked them to deprive you of your arsenal and dismantle them."

Memories started to flood Shepard's mind. She could vividly remember how she turned the shiny red and gold armor to worthless scrap metal. "That little scavenger bastard!" she slammed again the glass wall, "**NO ONE** ever touches my stuff and lives!"

"And they also want to extract information out of you…"

"About what?"

"You and your army."

Shepard's eyebrows involuntarily crossed. "Ok, I get it. You're trying to tell me that this facility is Reaper-controlled, right?"

The agent took a step backwards. "Reaper?" he asked.

"Where the hell—"

"Ah yes, 'Reapers.'" The agent quickly said while forming an air quotes using his fingers, "Your worst enemies—"

"There's no need to imitate that damned Turian councilor!" Shepard interrupted, "But wait; that man—he didn't seem to have any signs of indoctrination."

"Does it even matter? They are against you. They are able to torture you, put liquids that will destroy your wits, just to extract information. And where do you think they will use that?"

Shepard took a deep breath. She knew there was something amiss in her situation—but what was it? The man's words were doubtful to her degree; yet why did his words draw her to believe it? "Fine, fine, I get it. What do I need to do?"

"Make sure you resist their attempts to extract information. I shall give you the signal when it is the right time to escape."

"W-what? But I need my—" Shepard started to say but before she could finish it, she felt a small thing on her palm. When she looked at it, her eyes almost popped out. "My omni tool!"

"Will that satisfy your concern?" the man asked with a hint of impatience in his voice.

Shepard tested her tools and blade. Everything functioned well. "I have no idea on what's going on. But I guess I have no choice but to tag along—if I want to get out of here alive."

"I must go now," the man said, "Conceal your weapon before my distraction ensues."

"Wait, what do you mean by—hey!" Shepard called out; but the agent disappeared.

Before she could even react, she heard a door open behind her. Shepard spun around and saw the weirdest person she could ever see. Dressed in a long, slick, leather black coat, the dark-skinned man strode quickly towards her containment with stiff, definite steps. His bald head reflected the dim lights of the room but the scowl on his face made the atmosphere denser than before. She looked at him in the eye and immediately understood that her visitor meant serious business. Yet, the man seemed perfectly normal—excluding the fact that he wore an eye patch on his left eye, which made the commander uneasy.

"Does the conditions of the helicarrier suit you well?" he asked in an obviously faked pleasant tone.

"Like how my boot will suit to your mouth?"

The man smirked. "I agree that the state of the ship is not as comfortable as a luxury aircraft. The repairs were going slow and steady, though," he said, "But unfortunately, we will be socializing in this place whether you like it or not. My name is Fury, by the way: Nick Fury—the director of S.H.I.E.L.D."

* * *

**A/N: Hi, sorry for the era-long hiatus. It's just that I'm so busy wrestling with the thing called LIFE that I'm not able to update. Hopefully I can write again after my final exams. Short, I know, but please bear with me. You know that your reviews are like MediGel to me: essential on every fight. So please, let me know what you think! :))**

**01/23/2013: Just made some corrections. Don't worry guys, I'm still writing Chapter 6!**


	6. Mystery Number: 2186

**Chapter VI:**

**Mystery Number: 2186**

"What do you want, huh, baldy?"

"No: what do _you_ want?"

Shepard couldn't hold out her smirk. Fury's straightforwardness reminded her of Anderson."I want to get out of here. Is that okay with you?"

"No. Not until we find out who are you working with, _or for_," Nick Fury's crisp voice almost bore through the glass barriers that stood between them, "After doing the shit you've done back there, Tony's been studying your weapons—"

"What do you mean by—THAT BASTARD!" Shepard rammed her fist on the glass, causing a mild echo around her, "Here's an advice for your friend: he'd better run to the farthest parts of the Perseus Veil while he still can. Because when I get out of here, he will see how MERCILESS I can be."

"Barking threats will not do you any good," the one-eyed director hummed while waltzing calmly towards a control panel, "If I were you, I'll try to be as nice as possible in front of your hosts."

Shepard felt the air around her become warm yet damp. For a second she thought that her enemies were doing something sneaky behind her back; but then she realized that it was due to that fact that she was confined in an enclosed space. _When will that damn signal come?_ she thought while trying to keep her expression stoic. She wasn't sure up to how long she could hold the facade up, though. After all, the art of professional interrogation had never become her expertise.

Fury let out a wry smile and pushed some buttons on the console near her cell. "Still not talking?" he chirped.

"Not until hell freezes over."

Immediately after she said those words, she heard a sound underneath her, as if something was opening. By the time she looked down, she could only see soft white threads swimming past the shimmering blue background. She looked at the director's triumphant look then back again at the waters and then back again at Fury. She did not want to lose her "underdog" cover but she couldn't stand being threatened like this. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders in a carefree way. "I've got rougher and terrifying drop-offs than this, old guy, trust me."

Fury snorted. "If you still haven't noticed: we are now flying over a thousand feet above the waters—"

"And I fell from outer space, past the exosphere of the planet, then crashing towards the ground," Shepard interrupted, "You know what's the only protective gear I'm wearing that time? _My __**light **__armor_. And to think that they said that I'd already lost my helmet and burned off more than fifty percent of my armor before I came in contact with the ground."

There was an awkward silence for a minute before the the director found words to say. "You're shitting on me."

It was Shepard's turn to snort. "I shit you not," she said in her most comical tone.

"Really?" he said, "No human has ever survived that kind of fall."

The commander shrugged her shoulders. "How did you know? Has anyone else done this before?"

"And why would I believe that kind of bluff after all?" Nick Fury retorted, "Do you know that after you did your little _prank_ back in New York, I have been granted the authority to incarcerate and interrogate you by any means necessary."

"And I'm supposed to fear you just because you think you have me by the neck, right?"

The man's eye glimmered with pride. "Listen here, lady: This is how rules go in the 21st—"

Before Fury could finish his sentence, darkness swallowed the whole room, followed by a groan of a dying machinery nearby.

"So_ this_ is the long-awaited signal?" Shepard rammed her omni blade against the glass walls, dove out and activated her tactical cloaking before the dim red lights could light up. The darkness could sure be used to give out a nice surprise attack; but Shepard reluctantly refused to give in to her urges, remembering that she still had a war to win back in London.

Nick Fury drew out an old-fashioned pistol beneath his slick, leather coat. "You're not going anywhere without my permission!"

"Challenge accepted," Shepard grinned as she ignited Fury's jet black coat with her incinerate before fleeing to the sliding door, "Remember this baldy: I don't take orders just from anyone!"

* * *

_10 minutes before the breakout_

"Perfect," Loki laughed to himself, "and these imbecile mortals won't know a thing!" He had flawlessly controlled some of the key figures that made the sky fortress functional. No one seemed to be suspicious of him—and even gave him a briefing to the people around the place! Amusingly, a very few changes had only been made to its structure, making it very easy for him to remember where he should hit hardest as to perform his big surprise.

It only took a little persuasion and skill in his part to convince a handful of key people to do what he wanted. His agent form had been proven to be useful in performing the act. The mortals in the sky fortress congenially introduced him to some important personnel who made the whole place operational. And it only took subtle convincing for them to turn off some machinery at the right time.

"Mortals: weak-minded fools whose hearts could be bent according to my will," He smiled. But as he strode past an armory-looking room, Loki noticed the two mortals, who had utterly disgraced him during their last encounter, studying with curious-looking items. Straining his eyes, he realized that those were the warrior maiden's weapons. Letting his curiosity determine his actions, he stood near the door opening and tried to eavesdrop.

Stark, still clad in his metal armor, grunted as he placed his eyes on a high-powered lens and tried position a sidewalk pavement-colored side arm on the middle of the table. Carefully, he picked up two iron rods and began to make an incision across the black lines of the weapon.

"Mr. Stark," a male, ethereal voice said, "The result of the initial analysis of the said side-arms is quite ambiguous. It states a massive amount of unknown energy is being contained inside the weapon. I suggest that further studies must be made in the workshop before making rash movements."

The blonde mortal wrinkled his nose. "Where did that come from?"

"JARVIS is connected through my suit," Stark grunted as he dumped the tools inside the glass container, "What the heck are these weapons made of anyway? Not even high-powered cutting tools can damage this thing!"

"Stolen technology again?"

Stark picked up the side arm and tried to inspect it. "No Stark logos, as far as I know. But there's some strange logo embedded at the side. It says: SPECTRE REQUISITIONS: APRIL 2186."

"2186?" the archer repeated as he walked and scanned the strange weapon, "What's that, some sort of a code or something?"

"Some weapon manufacturers usually place the date on their weapons..." Stark's voice trailed, "You know, for batch tracking purposes..."

The archer snorted. "Impossible. 2186 is almost two centuries ahead of us," he said while pulling up a nearby chair, "Although I've got to admit: that weapon design is way too...different to be said that it's manufactured here and now."

Stark dazed at the bizarre-looking weapon. "Yeah... and I really have to talk to that lady."

Loki stared silently listened to the two mortals try to determine Jane's origin. _Futuristic, huh?_ He scoffed. He never expected that mortals could ever make advancement to their lives. Yet as he mulled over the present theories, an idea came to his mind-something that could actually hold the crimson red-armored lady within his control. Chuckling, Loki walked back to the containment cell. "It's time," he whispered and the lights went out.

"Wait, what happened?" he heard Stark shout, "I haven't repaired my suit yet!"

"Good for me," Loki silently replied. Their laxness just made his ploy easier to perform. He continued to walk through the dimly illuminated halls, past the panicking armed mortals, and turned around a dark corner near the door of the cell. He could hear noises behind the door; and he knew that it was a matter of time before she would show up near the dark corner.

It was not long until he saw a glimpse of the strange, battered armor. But judging Jane's actions, she would probably activate her disappearing magic and attempt to rush things out. Loki bit his lip while thinking of the possibility. When Jane was about to raise her left arm, Loki rushed behind her, grabbed her waist and her mouth, and dragged her back to the dark corner before the mortal soldiers could notice anything.

"Mmmrrphh!" Jane grunted while she struggled underneath the strong grasp. She even attempted to use her magical blade but he quickly twisted her arm to her back. Loki held her perfectly still and used a simple sorcery to calm her down. Next, he used another rejuvenating charm. But he knew that his magic was not yet potent enough to heal her completely; rather he hoped that it would suffice until the time they had already escaped the loathsome place.

In a matter of seconds, the female mortal laid helplessly on his arms while being dragged towards one of the rooms. The Asgardian successfully concealed the unconscious female behind the wall before another wave of soldier rush past the doorway. With a quick motion, he slid the door close and snapped his fingers towards the commander's direction.

"Uhhh, what the hell just happened?" Shepard blinked a few times while flexing her aching limbs. She was about to stand up when she noticed of a tall figure gazing down on her silently. For a minute, she finally recognized that he was the same agent who talked to her about the signal. "You could've just given me a holler or something! You're just lucky that I didn't impale you with my omni blade!"

The man shook his head. "Your worthless tools cannot harm me, fool," he growled, "I am a god!"

Shepard whistled. "Here I thought the Catalyst is crazy..." she blinked her eyes, "You're not even glowing-"

"You do not know my capabilities."

"I don't give a single damn, actually," Shepard sighed, "I just want to go back to London, rendezvous with my squad, and get the hell back into action!"

A brief silence fell between the two. "London: Is that a place in your world?" the agent finally asked.

"It's a place on EARTH, dimwit!" Shepard threw her hands towards the ceiling, "I don't care if you're a colony kid or a starship kid; but I'm pretty sure that should know one of the most famous cities in the face of humanity!"

The agent glowered on her. "You cannot expect me to know those frivolous information for I do not—and will never—dwell on Midgard!"

Shepard couldn't believe what she was actually hearing. "What the hell are you exactly?" she shook her head, "Please don't tell me that you're some kind of unknown alien specie..."

Much to her surprise, an amused chuckle came out of the agent's lips. "Ah, I see that you are quite ignorant of our existence—even though you have seen my world with your very eyes."

Shepard crossed her arms. "Cut to the chase: I need to know what's going on—_now._"

The agent edged closer with his masked face only a few inches far to her face. "With pleasure, Lady Jane," he whispered in a spine-chilling tone. The figure in front of him faded slowly, as if the man before her was a mere hologram. Slowly, the figure changed shape, color, and composition. Before she could even blink her eye, the man in front of her suddenly became a towering, lean, figure that she had to take a step back and stretch her neck up to see his face.

Seeing his raven black hair, regal black and green clothing, and the iron clamp that sealed the lower part of his face, Shepard's thoughts suddenly went back to the time she was in that dreamscape land. "Wait-are you the—no, impossible," she looked down at the floor and shook her head vigorously. When she raised her head again, her eyes met his, locking them in a deep stare.

_The guy called Loki..._

Among all the people she had met during her days in the Alliance, Shepard had never seen a pair of eyes that gripped her soul so tight that she could not take her gaze away from it. She could remember the serene, yet sad eyes of Thane, or the deadly stare of the Illusive Man, but they had never taken a hold of her that long. But the emerald green eyes in front of her had brought down every mental defense that she had formed during her training in the N7. It was forcefully persuasive that she wondered if the man in front of her was an actual human being or not.

A weak groan came behind her. "Commander, is that you?"

The familiar voice stopped the time around her. It was the only moment that Shepard recognized her surroundings. The once dull, pasty gray walls were suddenly filled with steel shelves and glass cabinets stuffed with vials, bottles, and medical-like apparatus. The blare of the siren ceased and now replaced with a quiet, steady beep. She turned around and saw a white blanket covering a figure neck down.

"_Commander.._." the voice behind the covers moaned as the sheets shifted its position.

She felt her knees weaken. Like a cold water being splashed on a tired, beaten face, the voice brought her back to her own self—as Commander Jane Shepard. But how and why? She wondered. Questions and memories filled her head. It made her question what really happened back at the Crucible. "This can't be happening," Shepard shook her head, "Is that you...Jo—"

Before she could finish her sentence, a sharp pain seized her right arm. Looking down, she saw a pale, lanky hand gripping her worn out armor. She crossed her eyebrows and gave Loki a death glare he would never forget. But his eyes did not seem to be unfazed; rather he returned the gesture. Not giving up easily, Shepard snarled like a hostile varren and tried to crane her neck closer to his face.

Loki returned to his agent form. "This is not the time for your mortal curiosity to ensue," he snarled.

"This isn't just for curiosity's sake!" Shepard swatted Loki's hand, "This guy might be one of my crew!"

"Is this piece of flesh be more important than your escape?"

"Tch!" she ignored Loki's accusing gaze and rushed towards the bedside. To her dismay, the whole head was covered with clean white gauze, only leaving small slits for the nose and mouth. She flipped aside the heavy quilt, trying to find something familiar on the man but his white robe showed her nothing.

Not giving up, she scoured the whole room, tossing and turning the furniture upside down to find anything. While scanning the floor, a glittering object caught her eye. "Is that a dog tag?" she wondered out loud as she scooped up the object. True enough, the object was a military dog tag bearing the Systems Alliance symbol. Her heart skipped a beat as her thoughts bothered her on the identity of the man on the bed. She slowly turned the dog tag to reveal the soldier's information:

_Jeff Moreau_

_Flight Lieutenant_

_Alliance Navy_

Shepard almost let the dog tag slip out of her hands upon reading the name. "Joker...no...what did these bastards do to you?" she whispered. All this time she thought that everything was just a bad dream; that she could wake up and find herself back into action; but why was Joker even here? Was he for real or another figment in her strange nightmare?

"Have you gotten enough time to be sentimental already?"

In an instant, Shepard gave Loki a right hook punch to the face but the Asgardian evaded the attack easily.

"The guy over there is one of my men!" Shepard growled, "And I'm not leaving this place until that bald cyclops gives me a good answer!"

"I believe you are the one that should be giving answers..." a dark voice said from the doorway.

Shepard and Loki looked at the direction of the voice only to find out that Nick Fury, Stark, the archer, and other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had already barricaded the door of the room. Looking around, Shepard realized that there were windows on either side of the wall covered with clear glass. She just wondered how come the agents had a hard time looking for them.

"Curse you and your stupid emotions..." Loki whispered.

"Shut the hell up," Shepard replied.

"It seems that we have a traitor over here," Fury said and then turned towards the archer, "You should be more careful the people you recruit, Agent Barton."

"Agent Suarez has an impressive record; and his loyalty lies in the United States. It's impossible for him to do such act," the archer said.

Fury grunted. "Whatever his record says, it seems that what we see here is—"

"I believe you have misunderstood my actions, Director Fury," Loki interrupted, "I am about to apprehend this _vile_ woman the time you came here."

"You little son of a bitch!" Shepard cried, "I thought you're on my side!"

Loki ignored her cursing and seized her aching arm. "It is just a _ruse_ for me to capture our prisoner," he casually explained while maintaining a strong grip on her.

Shepard could not believe what she was hearing. What was going on? Was he supposed to help her? She twisted, squirmed, and wiggled out of his deathly grip; but he seemed unrelenting. He merely continued his casual conversation with the director. By the way they talked to each other; Shepard could guess that Loki was not joking. _And I'm just the damned fool who believed everything he said,_ she gritted her teeth. At the end of the day, she knew that there were only two groups of people she could fully trust: her _Normandy_ gang, and herself.

Without moving her head, she tried to assess her situation calmly. She saw the bastard, whom she fought and took her weapons, trying to get into the conversation. The other blonde guy, Agent Barton as they called him, was still raising his weird-looking weapon at her. It was some kind of a mechanical, arched bow and a thin, long black cylinder with a sharp, metallic tip. If her memory served her correct, the stick that impaled and knocked her out was probably his. In addition to that, she also had to make them pay for what they did to Joker. And her hit list grew longer, again. She sighed.

"Well then," she heard Loki say, "Are we ready to put this wild maiden into her cell?"

Shepard's spirit cried within her. She quickly recollected her thoughts on how to slip past her enemies. Fortunately, she still had one of Kasumi's little omni-tool tricks that the thief gave her back in their mission in Bekenstein. Stealthily, she managed activate her omni tool to reveal the energy wires running around the ship. But it seemed that her luck ran out when she realized that she could only "see" the energy outputs when she was near the walls.

"Yeah, we should," Stark quipped, "I do like to have a little chat with her!"

"Damn it!" She muttered under her breath as she was dragged away from Joker's bed, "Don't worry Joker, I'm coming back for you."

The sirens died and the lights turned white. Soon enough, Shepard saw some sparks emanating from the gaps on the walls. Could this be the weak points of the ship? She stopped struggling and deliberately widened the gap between her steps so she could get near the walls. True enough, her omni tool was starting to do its job. She couldn't actually see the lines with her naked eye but she trusted her omni tool to determine the weakest wire among the group.

As they marched back to the room she came from, Shepard realized that they were slowly lagging behind the group of guards. Fury, Agent Barton, and Stark were walking in front of the group while a handful of agents were slowly breaking away from their group towards their supposed posts. Thinking this as an opportunity, she set her omni tool to automatically disrupt any weak power sources. But when she was doing her act, she felt a soft tug on her right arm.

"I shall tolerate the way you insulted me, for now," Loki whispered in her ear, "But I must tell you this: do EXACTLY as I say or else forget escaping this place!"

"You can't make me leave Joker behind!" Shepard replied and put her fellow soldier's dog tag around her neck, "And I'm not your puppet!"

"I thought we have already an agreement!" Loki scowled.

Shepard heard a slight beep; and in an instant, a spark popped on one of the bare wires on the ceiling, followed by another series of violent explosions. "Not anymore, two-timer," she said and used all her strength to ram her knee against his groin, making him lose his grip on her.

"You insolent mortal!" Loki spat.

"You had it coming..." Shepard said and activated her tactical cloak. Lucky for her, the explosions caused Fury, Stark, and Barton to cower. She was again tempted to give them a taste of her charged omni blade but she pushed the idea aside. Now that they had Joker hostage, she would not do anything stupid that could jeopardize his life.

Tracing her steps back to the poorly-supplied medbay, she still found the man lying on the bed, covered with bandages. Shepard rushed to his side and started to yank the tubes connected to his skin. "We're getting outta here by hook or by crook, you hear me?" Shepard chuckled while untangling some wires, "Just like the old times."

"Commander...the Crucible...Hackett told me..." Joker moaned between short gasps of air, "...ignored it... Harbinger... a trap..."

Shepard stopped. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Run... Reapers...alive... run...EDI...no..."

"Damnit, Joker, I'm not going to leave these guys-they might be indoctrinated!"

"RUN!"Joker gave a hoarse cough.

The lights went out, only to be replaced again by the dim red light. Next to the lights, she heard another engine breakdown and felt the room tilting to one side. Shepard did her best to evade the sliding cabinets assaulting at her direction but one of the glass furniture had come in contact, causing her to momentarily lose her balance.

"She is last seen at the clinic, Agent Barton!" she heard a voice outside.

"I'll deal with her! Go to the engine room and assist with the repairs A.S.A.P.!"

"Harbinger...he's out to get you..."Joker coughed, "He can't be...can't be..."

"Suck it, soldier!" Shepard gripped his arm, "We've fought and faced death many times before; and there's no way in hell you're gonna leave your post. You're still going through the Reaper lines and fry Harbinger's ass with Vakarian-calibrated Thanix Cannon. Am I clear?" Without another word, Shepard put Joker's arm around her neck, braced his weight against her, and tried to lift him out of the bed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Shepard spun around and saw Agent Barton aiming his strange weapon at her. Groaning, she slowly returned Joker back to the bed. "Just because you got me with your flying magic sticks the first time, doesn't mean that you could beat with those again," she shook her head.

The blonde agent released the cylinder and flew past Shepard's ear. "I'd pay to see that," he said flatly.

Shepard looked around her area. It would be too dangerous to start a fight in a cramped med bay; but it would also be risky to fight in a wide-open area—now that she could not find her weapons anywhere. "Time to do this in the old fashioned way," she activated her omni blade and charged like a Krogan towards the agent. "I AM SHEPAAARRRRDD!" she screamed as she made a flying tackle and pinned the agent to the ground. By the time they landed on the floor, Shepard wasted no time and shocked the agent with her electrically-charged omni blade, knocking him unconscious.

"Leave me here, commander," Joker called out, "Harbinger...he's out to get you..."

The commander got off her feet and went back to Joker's side. "What do you mean? How the heck did he get in here?"

Before the helmsman could answer, another groan behind the walls echoed and the room started to tilt in the opposite direction, causing another furniture avalanche. Grabbing the edge of the medical bed, Shepard tried to keep it steady as possible. But then a large, wooden cabinet slammed and almost crushed her against the wall. "Dammit!" she grunted as she tried to prevent the bed from sliding and the cabinet from turning her into a pancake.

The ship groaned again and tossed and turned. Shepard tried to push the cabinet with one arm but she felt a strong push pummeling behind it. She let go of the bed and tried to brace herself against the plummeting furniture. Her arms were about to let go when she saw a hand grip the edge of the cabinet and threw it away.

"Your actions are weathering down my patience."

Shepard blinked before looking at her rescuer. Again, it was Loki. "When and where did you come from, exactly?"

Loki growled. "We have to leave. My oafish brother has already arrived!"

"Huh? Who?"

"Thor Odinson."

The commander whistled. "Now THAT's funny," she chuckled, "What? You're afraid that your brother will spank you or something?"

Loki punched the wall beside Shepard. "I do not cower in fear of my brother's presence!"

"Then why are you so eager to leave, little Loki?"

The Asgardian's eyes narrowed into slits and veins started to appear on his forehead. "Indulge yourself with your fanciful notions while you still can. But when the right moment arrives, you shall witness my absolute power and bow down before me!"

Shepard rolled her eyes. "Damn, is this what that Turian Brandy does to people? It says it makes people strongly delusional. Heck, it even makes Tali a childish crackpot."

_**BOOM! **_Thunder rattled through the walls of the room, causing the shattered glass vials to tremble. After a few more minutes, a concerto of sharp and dull sounds echoed on the dark corridors; and the dim red light flickered restlessly. A few steps away, agitated shouts were heard, as if something had arrived.

Loki grabbed Shepard's wrist. "I perceive that this is not the time for my brother and I to meet," he said, "We must take our leave, _NOW_."

Shepard yanked her hand free. "Oh no, you don't! After you snitched me with that bald guy last time? There's no way I'm going to cooperate with you."

"Foolish maiden, have you not realized that my words only mean to deceive them?"

"Fine, if you say so; but I'm not leaving Joker behind!" Shepard said while pointing at the man in the bed for extra emphasis.

Loki looked at the bandaged man lying on the bed. "He is already fit for the realms of Nifelheim," he said, "And my strength has not recuperated fully—"

"Then: no deal," Shepard said emphatically.

"LOKI! YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE THE WRATH OF MY MJOLNIR!" Thor's voice boomed in the dark corridor.

"Curses," Loki spat and immediately pulled Shepard close to him and disappeared without a trace.

* * *

"_The prisoner has escaped, director Fury."_

"What about the other one?"

"_We've found him barely breathing, disconnected from all the tubes. But his vital signs are stable now."_

"And Agent Barton?"

"_He's only suffered minor injuries, though I should say that the Taser had hit him really good: he's still unconscious."_

"That's all for now."

"_Yes sir._"

The intercom clicked as Nick Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. "This is slowly getting out of control," he droned, "And our old friend just returned from his vacation. Too bad we didn't recognize him the first time—or we have given him a warm welcome."

"It is my fault," Thor said, pacing back and forth in the director's spacious office, "I should have remained more vigilant in my watch."

"Don't think so, Thor," Tony chirped while boring a screwdriver on one of the sickly red gauntlets, "No one expected that he'll be back—with that war-freak chick. And if she hadn't been so tech savvy, I've already done something-"

Thor stopped walking. "Who is that maiden you are talking about, my friend?"

"I think it's—uh—Shetard, no, Shepherd, not either. Shepard, yes, she calls herself Shepard."

"Jane Shepard?" Thor's voice boomed, "The mortal we have caught wandering in Asgard?"

"She's from Asgard?"

"No, I do not think so," Thor stroked his chin thoughtfully, "But her sorcery has disturbed our realm. She had managed to draw power from the Cube, and turned it against us."

"So, she's THAT dangerous, isn't it?"

Thor shook his head. "I know not the answer to your inquiry, my friend," he said, "But if she has already allied herself with my brother..."

"Then she's already an enemy," Fury interjected and turned to Tony, "I heard you've been studying her weapons. Did you find anything useful?"

Tony frowned. "Other than its mechanics and design is brutally weird and complicated AND it's not based from my current technology, no— unless you find dates interesting," he said while removing a charred part of his armor, "On one side of the pistol, it says: SPECTRE REQUISITIONS APRIL 2186."

"2186?"

"Yeah," Tony nodded.

"What mystery lies with those numbers?" Thor mused.

The SHIELD director sighed and walked towards the door. "Looks like it's about time to have a little chat in the medical wing..."

"What do you mean?" Tony and Thor chorused.

Fury half turned to face the two. "It's classified—for now," he said with a wry smile on his face and disappeared into the hallway.

* * *

**A/N: Hi! I'm back, at last! But because I've been through a looonnngg break, I don't know if I kept things coherent in this chapter. And please don't be upset in this chapter, Jane's revenge on Tony will come in due time, I swear. But feel free to air out your concerns, I appreciate it, really. :)**

** Thank you for those who reviewed last chapter: Guest, CodeRubicon, kogouma, Straight Edghe and those who reviewed on ch 4! I hope you'll continue reading!**

**HERE'S SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO**: NEXT CHAPTER:_ A Fellow Soldier and Misfit_

Three guesses on who's going to be on the next chapter.

Ciao! ~R-E-R93~ :D


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